COAST exists lo limit the

rate of toxes and spending

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WJBFk.

at ,ne Federal, State, and

local level to within the rate

of inflation and to stop the abuse of power by government officials

To:
Re:

Board of Directors of the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority

Port Authority's review of the Parking Plan

Dear Sirs/Madame:

Following the ruling by the First District Court of Appeals in June that the Parking Lease among the City of Cincinnati, the Port Authority, Guggenheim and Xerox Corporation could proceed without first being subject to referendum on the measure by the public, the City of Cincinnati quickly signed the lease behind closed doors. The Port Authority, a supposedly public agency, apparently deliberated for a few days, asked for some amendments to the Lease and then executed an amended version allowing the Port to terminate the Lease at the discretion of the Port. Thereafter, the Port apparently began both negotiations with the City for its "piece of the pie," and began to conduct some due diligence review of the plan.
All of the foregoing actions by both the City and the Port have been shrouded in secrecy. Please understand that before all of the foregoing actions took place, 19,803 citizens signed petitions to place the issue on the ballot because the public very much wanted a say on this plan. The petition drive was spurred by hundreds of petitioners united by their opposition to or at least their heartfelt concerns about the Lease plan. Please understand the
importance of the statement made by these circulators and petition signers: in the past 30 years there has been maybe one successful City-wide referendum other than this one. They are exceedingly difficult to organize successfully. The challenges of the petition drive were compounded by the threats of public safety layoffs from the Mayor, Manager and Council, the legal uncertainty hanging over the drive, and the Easter holiday that was near the end of the effort. Still, we collected more than 2.5 times the minimum required signatures in a short 30day timeframe to place the issue before the voters.

3630 ZUMSTEIN AVENUE, CINCINNATI, OHIO 45208

www.GOCOAST.org
PAID FOR BY COAST CANDIDATES PAC, MARK MILLER TREASURER. 3630 ZUMSTEIN AVENUE, CINCINNATI, OHIO 45208.