See who has a big streetcar PR problem

Politics Extra is a weekly column looking inside local politics (Scroll to the bottom to read "Micro-scoops & more")

The streetcar has created a public-relations conundrum for Greater Cincinnati's largest public transportation agency, a fact that became more obvious this week.

How can the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority persuade taxpayers to fix a broken-down bus system when the agency also is in charge of running the politically polarizing streetcar? Politics Extra isn't sure it can right now. It appears neither is the SORTA board.

Insiders told PX this week some board members recently have been asking if the agency can quit the streetcar business. They know plummeting ridership numbers, declining fare revenue and ongoing operations woes aren't helping SORTA's image across Hamilton County, where the agency will need streetcar-loathing suburbanites to support a sales-tax hike in order to overhaul one of America's worst bus systems for connecting people to jobs.

The SORTA board got itself into the streetcar in 2013, when it had a pro-streetcar majority. That’s not the case now, but the streetcar connection is backfiring on the transit authority. The board really wants to focus on helping jobless and under-employed residents connect to thousands of job opportunities outside the urban core that are currently not accessible by transit.

Study: 75K Cincy jobs unreachable by transit

To be clear, SORTA only is in charge of running the city-owned streetcar. It's done a mediocre job, yes, but that's no surprise since SORTA's expertise is buses. The city could take over operations, a move that would eliminate a layer of bureaucracy. The city of Atlanta, for example, runs its downtown streetcar system. But Cincinnati City Hall is run by an anti-streetcar administration, so there appears to be no easy way for SORTA to divorce this ball-and-chain.

For better or worse, the public sees the streetcar and Metro buses as intertwined through SORTA. That’s why the agency probably should put a halt to any thought of placing a countywide transit tax on the ballot this year. The plan is for a possible transit tax to be designed only for buses, but voters could see it as giving money to the agency that runs the streetcar.

Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune said this week it’s not the right time for a ballot initiative – and the Democrat is perhaps the No. 1 advocate for improving public transportation in the region. Mayor John Cranley originally hatched the idea of the transit tax, but he backed away a year ago after his parks levy went up in flames.

Saddled with streetcar operations and having no transit-tax champion, it's difficult to determine where SORTA goes from here. On Tuesday, SORTA leaders told whoever was listening the agency needs a jaw-dropping $1 billion over the next decade to fix the bus system. But it generated little buzz.

The next day, City Council spent 2½ hours fussing about the streetcar. They didn't even mention the bus system, which City Hall pours over $50 million into each year, accounting for half of SORTA's bus budget. It was further proof all we want to talk about is streetcar, streetcar, streetcar. (Some say The Enquirer plays a role in that. Maybe.)

These streetcar arguments have been going on for nearly a decade, and they're probably going to continue this year. All indications are the streetcar again is going to be a hot-button issue in the mayor's race between Cranley, City Councilwoman Yvette Simpson and former University of Cincinnati Chairman Rob Richardson Jr. The mayor's race – covered by media that reaches a regional audience – probably will do nothing to change minds about transit across Hamilton County.

The mayor’s race might only fuel the skepticism anti-tax/anti-streetcar group COAST has about the transit authority. The group's concern is any bus money given to SORTA through a transit tax would go straight to the streetcar coffer. The transit authority has a policy in place that bus money absolutely cannot be used for the streetcar. But who’s to say that won’t be changed if Simpson or Richardson are elected and appoint streetcar advocates to the SORTA board?

Let's be clear: Asking the county to support a bus tax would be a tough sell even without the streetcar cloud hovering over SORTA. Across the U.S., the suburban perception of public buses typically has been that they're mostly for poor, inner-city residents, transportation experts say.

That view needs to change. Maybe we'd lower our poverty rate if we had a better bus system. PX has talked to several employers and workforce development leaders who say they believe it would.

For now, though, SORTA needs to wait out the streetcar drama. Maybe the region will eventually become numb to all the streetcar arguments and headlines, and taxpayers will realize pouring money into buses is an investment in fighting poverty.

SORTA also needs more time to rally critical stakeholder support. Transit authority Chairman Jason Dunn is a masterful collaborator who greatly cares about improving the agency. Expect him and other SORTA officials to spend time with the preschool levy leaders, who set a new standard for how to collaborate on a challenging levy project.

Mount Washington resident Greg Landsman spent four years working to get a diverse group of stakeholders on board before the preschool property tax went on the ballot last fall. The effort really took off once the big-company CEOs of the high-powered Cincinnati Business Committee got involved over a year ago. The Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber jumped in. So did Cincinnati Public Schools, labor unions and community groups.

The preschool levy passed easily in November. But then again, it wasn't associated with the streetcar.

MICRO-SCOOPS & MORE

• Richardson has given a recent UC graduate his first career leadership role in politics. Danny O'Connor, 22, is running Richardson's campaign after they worked closely on campus programs the past few years. O'Connor first met Richardson two years ago, when the Anderson Township native was running to be a student member of the UC Board of Trustees. O'Connor, who graduated last month with a degree is in political science, was a volunteer on Democrat Connie Pillich's campaign for state treasurer in 2014.

• Speaking of Richardson, his call this week for a debate with Cranley and Simpson was widely praised on The Enquirer's politics Facebook page. One commenter did say Richardson was only calling for the debate because he's an underdog and needs to gain name recognition and debates are a way to generate free publicity. Well, yeah, so what? It was a smart campaign move.

• Spotted: Former Councilman Sam Malone was seen with Councilman Charlie Winburn inside City Hall on Wednesday. Malone, a close friend of Winburn's, has been under scrutiny for receiving questionable payments while working as a consultant for MSD.

Follow Enquirer politics reporter Jason Williams on Twitter @jwilliamscincy. Send tips, questions and comments to jwilliams@enquirer.com.