Letters to the editor| Cincinnati Enquirer
Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito of the U.S. Supreme Court have engaged in insurrectionist activities, or appear in support of them − supporting calls to state legislators to create false electors (Thomas), flying an upside down American flag on his front lawn (Alito) and refusing to rule in a timely fashion impeding resolution contrary to procedural and substantive precedent. Both fail judicial impartiality by ruling on cases of "friends" giving expensive "gifts."
Chief Justice John Roberts seems unable to stop such breaches of legal ethics. Congressional impeachment seems unlikely given Republican obstruction.It is time for bar associations to insist Alito and Thomas be removed from the court and disbarred from practicing law. Every lawyer in this country has sworn an oath to behave ethically and uphold the constitutions and laws of state and nation. This includes Alito and Thomas. Why are the lawyers of this country remaining silent while the rule of law weakens at every level of adjudication (Judge Aileen Cannon)?
Speak now or we may forever have to withhold our peace. The law may not be able to retain its union with justice and freedom, unless we speak now.
Louise Annarino, Columbus
Clermont County needs plan to deal with overpopulation of cats
In regards to the op-ed, "Clermont commissioners turn their back on animal shelter," (May 3), I have had several surprising encounters with the county regarding overpopulation of cats. There has been an ongoing problem in a neighborhood near me.
I have helped trap feral cats and get them neutered in order to prevent overpopulation. I do not mind taking part of a community issue that needs to be resolved. In fact, years ago the local shelter in Batavia would take in cats. However, when inquiring to local shelters such as the League for Animal Welfare, I have been told several times that the county has no program to rescue to deal with the overpopulation of cats, nor are there any plans to deal with the problem.
Yes, people should be responsible and get animals fixed, and I am sure this is an ongoing problem that is not easy to solve. However, doing nothing and letting cats breed is mind-boggling. I would encourage the county to ask for local input and for a plan to help prevent this problem.
Beth Douglas, Mount Carmel
CNN, ABC debates provide Biden with 'home-field advantage'
President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump have agreed to take part in two presidential debates, one hosted by CNN on June 27 and the other hosted by ABC News on Sept. 10. The moderators for the CNN debate will be Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, who have been openly critical of Trump on a regular basis. The moderators for the ABC News debate will be David Muir and Linsey Davis.
These two debates seem to provide Biden with a "home-field advantage," especially the CNN debate. I can just imagine the topics to be covered by Tapper and Bash: January 6, abortion, climate change, etc., with little or no questions regarding the chaos at the southern border, the cost of everyday items for the average consumer, and the crime and homelessness in many of our major Democrat-controlled and managed cities.
Biden has been talking tough, quoted as saying "Make my day, pal. Let's pick the date. I hear you are free on Wednesdays," but has reportedly rejected another proposed debate to be hosted by NBC News and Telemundo, which Trump agreed to.
What's next? A debate hosted by MSNBC and moderated by Rachel Maddow, a debate hosted by NBC News with Chuck Todd in the moderator's seat? How about a debate hosted by NPR with one of its 87 registered Democrats working in editorial positions as the moderator?
I bet Biden would eagerly agree to the terms of those debates.
Glenn Harmeyer, Colerain Township
Columbia Parkway stairs used by railroad workers
The "Just Askin" column in the Sunday, May 19 Enquirer regarding the Columbia Parkway stairs, though correct, provided only part of the story.From 1841 until around 1980, there was a rail yard at Pendleton where Walworth Street is today.A subdivision created during the 1890s on the hillside north of (then) Columbia Avenue was home for many of the railroad workers, who could walk down steps from their homes and crossColumbia Avenue to get to work. When the Columbia Parkway concrete walls were constructed during the 1930s, openings in the wall were provided to retain access to the steps.
Joe Warkany, Columbia Tusculum
Connected Communities plan lacks substance, real solutions
I am against the city of Cincinnati's Connected Communities plan. The assertions and representations from the media, City Hall and city leaders about the initiative have been misleading at best. In addressing citizen concerns, we are fed fantasies, dreams and "trust us" platitudes. Here are a few myths I have identified.
Myth: There has been broad community engagement and ample time to make concerns heard. Fact: A 150-page proposal released a little over a month ago, on April 11, 2024, was the first I heard that single-family zoning was being eliminated for my entire neighborhood, from St Bernard to Victory Parkway. A month, and the single-most valuable asset I have and the neighborhood I have lived my entire life will be forever altered, with no chance to push back from me or my neighbors. I could write an entire op-ed on what a check-the-box farce that May 17, 2024 "community engagement" planning meeting was, but that is for another day.
Myth: It is only the community councils opposing this initiative. Fact: Community councils are made up of community volunteers to represent the community. Two hundred citizens registered to speak at the May 17, 2024 planning meeting. Of the nine people I heard in support of the initiative, seven worked or represented developers, development corporations, and/or investors in real estate, and one of the other two didn’t even live in the city. The rest were opposed or asked for a pause to address serious concerns. No matter, the vote to pass was virtually unanimous.
Myth: This will address Cincinnati’s housing crisis in areas most needed. Fact: The most recent CoStar market study data states the East Cincinnati submarket, encompassing both Tier 1 targeted corridors (Reading Road and Hamilton Avenue) and the land between them, that vacancy is over 7% (7.3% in the affordable sector). This means in the area targeted for the most dramatic lifting of zoning protections, one in 14 apartments sits vacant. In a submarket with 17,126 units, 1,216 are vacant right now. Why hasn’t this been published?
Myth: This will not exacerbate the problem of concentrating affordable housing into already overburdened areas while also not requiring affordability components in new projects, rather relying on making Low-Income Housing Tax Credits more accessible. Fact: Only areas in "Qualified Census Tracts" or "Difficult Development Areas" qualify for Low-Income Housing Tax Credits. These are defined by HUD as areas having, "50% of households with incomes below 60% of the Area Median Gross Income or have a poverty rate of 25% or more. Difficult Development Areas are areas with high land, construction and utility costs relative to the area median income." (https://www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/qct.html). Anyone can go onto HUD’s website and see where these areas are in Cincinnati. (Hint: they are not in Hyde Park, but a lot are along Reading Road and Hamilton Avenue.)
Myth: Those Tier 1 corridors "will have dedicated lanes, streetcar-like stops, and essentially act like light rail transporting thousands of people to Uptown and Downtown." Fact: As far as I can tell, this has no funding secured and has a current (2023) estimated cost of $150 million for the Reading Road portion alone. These are unpaid-for fantasies. Here are my fantasies: fix some potholes and maybe some traffic calming along already overly congested Reading Road.
The disdain Mayor Aftab Pureval and Councilman Reggie Harris have shown for their constituents has been astounding. I can only assume they are not concerned about reelection but have their sights on higher office and are banking on financial support from all the developers, development entities, and real estate investors they are gifting my neighborhood and my home to. There has clearly been a huge investment in marketing Connected Communities, paid for by the taxpayer I assume, but what’s inside is lacking substance and real solutions to anything but how difficult developers have it.
Vanessa Wong, North Avondale
Bring needed federal funds back to Cincinnati
Our region has many infrastructure needs. The sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway by the city will help meet some of those needs. Also funding for the Brent Spence Bridge will address another major need. Even with these successes there is still an infrastructure crisis in our region.
Just this past week, the Enquirer reported on the partial closure of Covington 4th Street due to corrosion of structural beams. The state of Ohio estimates that there are 3,183 bridges in need of repairs in Ohio. The need for affordable housing construction and rental assistance is at an all-time high in our region impacting many people, especially children.
Public health services in our area are unfunded. This is putting people with drug addiction at great risk, leading to many drug overdose cases. We see people struggling with mental health issues as expressed in a letter to the editor on May 9, high infant mortality rates, and basic medical care needs are being neglected. Many people talk about the public health crisis in our area.
What these challenges have in common is that the federal government is a major source of funding for them. Local and state governments cannot meet these needs by themselves. We are struggling to keep our communities vibrant.As our elected officials work on the budget, we need to demand that they change priorities and funding to meet these many local needs. One area that we can make reductions in the budget is in military spending. We need adequate funding to ensure our security and to meet our treaty obligations. However, we all know there is tremendous waste in the budget. I would also argue that we are funding at levels more than what we need to ensure our security. Arms and military contractors are major contributors to politicians, and this leads to over funding and waste.
After the president sends a budget proposal, Congress works on budget resolution, developing appropriations bills and authorization bills. For the Department of Defense an extra step is added. Department of Defense officials are required to submit a report to Congress describing defense and intelligence-related priorities that were not included in the president’s annual budget request. This is a wish list that can add millions to the budget. For this budgeting period this is about $30 million.
There is currently a bill being considered in Congress to streamline DOD budgeting. It would repeal the statutory requirements for top military officers, combatant officers, and the missile Defense Agency to provide the list. The bill is The Streamline Pentagon Budgeting Act (H.R.4740). This along with cuts to wasteful spending will free up much-needed funds for meeting local needs.Please contact congressmen Greg Landsman and Brad Wenstrup to support this bill and send a thank you to Warren Davidson for supporting and sponsoring this bill. It is time for the federal government to support the local needs of its citizens to build better communities.Douglas Burks, Norwood; Mary Anne Curtis, Cincinnati; Rick Boyce, Anderson Township; Arial Bross, Cincinnati
Many small businesses don't think they'll survive second Biden term
As the owner of a small business, I received a questionnaire a few weeks ago from an organization called "Public Square," in which they were asking small business owners the question: Will your business survive a second Biden presidential term? I completed the form and returned it and was just notified of the results. Apparently, 49% of the respondents said they either "definitely could not" or "probably could not" survive, while only 7.6% said that they could "definitely survive." This points to trouble for the president in November, but if you do your family's grocery shopping, you didn't need a survey to tell you that.
Donna Pritchard, Liberty Township
Trump and Carter have impacted our world in completely different ways
Two recent Enquirer articles brilliantly exposed the state of our country as it exists today. One deals with one of the greatest humanitarians this country has produced in former president Jimmy Carter, and the other a man who couldn't care less about humanity in former president DonaldTrump.
Carter may have mishandled the Iran hostage crisis and it likely cost him the election to Ronald Reagan in 1980, but no one can deny his post-presidential days were all given over to humanity andhumanitariancauses worldwide.
By positioning the articles side by side, you allow your readers to understand that our country is human enough tounderstand how two such menhave impacted ourworld in completely different ways.
Tom Osterman, Clifton
Biden's bad decision-making on foreign policy continues
President Joe Biden's history as a poor decision-maker on the foreign policy front continues. He has strained relations with our primary ally in the Middle East, Israel, and by withholding weapons from that country in its war with Hamas, has confused not only Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but all of our allies. Add to that the fact that he's made no strong demands to free American hostages, and you have a president who must be continuing to allow former president Barack Obama to "pull his strings," since Obama was never a friend to Israel.
All in all, if you're a nation that has looked to the United States for leadership in the current world dynamic, you have to be scratching your head.
Robert Deluskey, Liberty Township
Justice Thomas needs to examine his own harmful acts
Regarding, "Conservatives justices express dark views," (May 14): If"Washington is a hideous place to live" since "regular people (apparently) pride themselves in doing harmful things," (there in D.C.) as stated by Justice Clarence Thomas, no one is forcing him to remain on the Supreme Court of the United States, and subsequentlylive in Washington, D.C. But with regard to "harmful things" which he cites, Thomas needs to examine his own "harmful things" by way of his decisions.
His decisions have negated and harmed the value of women in our society by his promoting adecision that takes away women's reproductive rights as humans/as individuals. He has also aligned himself with those, including his spouse,who positively support the attack on our Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, which was in actualitya"harmful" assault on our fundamental democracy.
Louis Claybon, Hyde Park
