"The Banks" Project Failure

With tax season in full swing, I am reminded of an analogy that Harry Browne made in his book Why Government Doesn’t Work. Many people see how inefficiently government departments are run only when they have to deal with that department. Most people have waited in a long line at the BMV, many know how long it takes for one to get their IRS refund. Getting lost in the mail is still a cliche. And now we are learning how inefficient government is when it comes to development. Development of “The Banks” has been a long, inefficient process to say the least. In fact, after almost six months of talks and planning, nothing has even been decided. You see, our politicians can’t seem to decide what exactly should be built there, and how it should be financed.

Now, let’s look across the river. Northern Kentucky has seen lost of redevelopment (Coporex building, the Aquarium, Newport on the Levee). Can anybody tell me which politicians brokered the deals to get those buildings built? You can’t. Those were private projects, funded with private money, developed by people who will lose money if things are not done correctly.

How much public outcry was there? None. How many politicians paraded around looking high and mighty that they were responsible for redeveloping their city? None. Since it was run by people who were going to lose a lot of money if they failed, they were able to decide on a good plan, implement it, and finish it in a fashion that will make them money.

Back to Ohio, now. Who is running this? The county politicians and the city politicians are fighting with each other about who should control this. The city and county governments are fighting about who should pay for this. It has gotten to be so old and childish that people are now begging our politicians to, “Just do something!” I hate to see what “Something” is. This is being run by our politicians who have nothing to lose. If they build something, and it fails, who will take responsibility? Phil Heimlich, Pat DeWine, and Todd Portune will all be long out of office. In 20 years, nobody is going to point the finger at anybody that is on Cincinnati city council today? The people who will be responsible will be the tax payers of the future. If there is this much bickering about how to get this project up and running, imagine the problems we will face when the project is complete and several million dollars a year are needed to maintain “The Banks”.

Over in Kentucky, there are a lot of new towers that have sprung up in recent years. One developer named Bill Butler owns most of the development. Jerry Carol is another developer that has financed a lot of development in Kentucky as well (including the Kentucky Speedway). A lot more is happening in Kentucky where private developers are taking the lead on such projects. Yet, Cincinnati City Council and the Hamilton County Commissioners seem to think that they can do a better job. Instead of selling the land to somebody who knows what they are doing, “The Banks” project is becoming nothing more than a political topic. Why doesn’t the city and county follow the lead that Newport did?