Jobs Jobs and Jobs

By Todd B. Portune

What are the top three priorities for this term on the county commission? That is what I am usually asked. The exact wording changes frequently, but the essence of the question is generally the same. If elected, what will be your top three priorities?

In years past we have had the luxury to consider multiple priorities. Not so this year. In this election the priority remains the same no matter the number or order. It is always the same + Jobs, Jobs and more Jobs. Everything we do is dependent upon establishing a healthy and a robust local economy. We cannot wait for state or federal government to sweep in and save us with some new-fangled initiative. They have no money and, time and time again, they have demonstrated they cannot prime the pump.

It is, in the end, up to us. Frankly, it has always been up to us; even from the beginning.

Over the past four years we have laid the foundation for our local economic recovery. We began with the number one "white elephant" of county development + The Banks.

I saw The Banks as symbolic of all that was wrong with county development strategies and changing it the best thing we could do to signal that a new day was at hand and that the county was serious about development.

So I made getting The Banks done a top priority. We inked The Banks development deal and got started in five months what hadn't been started in 8 years before. Today The Banks has created over 1400 jobs; has 11 entertainment establishments open and running full tilt; It has all residential occupied with waiting lists/ Phase II has begun and the riverfront park opened to international acclaim.

At the same time I spearheaded a reform and development agenda that saw the county:

1.) Reform the transit authority [SORTA] and convert it into a regional body promoting transit oriented developments that will better enable us to move people and freight through the region; and
2.) Reform the Port Development Authority + converting it into a streamlined force for brownfield reclamation; for large scale commercial, residential and/or industrial developments; and to operate as a Port in managing our transportation infrastructure, both man-made and natural; and
3.) Create the County Land Reclamation Corporation [LandBank] that will enable us to expedite gaining control over blighted property and convert it into productive real estate that improves property values, stabilizes neighborhoods, and generates revenue; and
4.) Adopt an aggressive and progressive transportation agenda [Brent Spence Bridge, Eastern Corridor multi-modal transportation program; I-75 Corridor improvements; Freight Corridor improvements] for the purpose of laying the foundation to create jobs and pave Hamilton County's way into the next century;
5.) Adopt a responsible bidder and local hiring policy for the purpose of best ensuring that the $15 - $20 Billion of public works projects coming on line over the next two decades spark job opportunities for locals; and
6.) Initiate several county reforms that are rightsizing county government and making us a leaner, trimmer and more adaptable organization + capable of pursuing opportunities as they arise.

As a consequence of the specific items identified above, the county is now poised to take full advantage and spark a true economic revival. We are already bearing witness to growth and gains in the local economy that are outpacing our neighbors in Ohio and the Nation.

I look to the next four years generating incredible opportunities to grow jobs in all of the building trades as we pursue rehabbing and new in-fill construction on an estimated 10,000 properties in the 100 defined neighborhoods of the county.

I see us being able to leverage the I-75 corridor improvements into massive new investments in technology and infrastructure along the corridor and into the marketplaces that grow around interstate interchanges and the new technology corridor we can build between UC and XU off of a newly constructed MLK interchange.

I see us sparking transit oriented developments in residential, retail and commercial construction around the station areas being developed along our new transportation and passenger rail corridors from downtown to Milford; from Xavier to Batavia; from downtown to Sharonville and from downtown to Lawrenceburg.

I see Greater Cincinnati booming with new commercial and industrial activity growing out of our expanded Port operations tied into Panama Canal expansion and Brent Spence Bridge construction.

And, I see an inclusive, involved, vibrant and healthy community, bringing in new industry and new ideas arising out of the growth of our creative class and healthier populations that have been made possible by advancements in new technologies; alternative energy; healthier lifestyles and wiser choices.

As a Board and as county administration, we need to burture these developments and make strategic investments in the building blocks of each. We need to monitor closely the new growth revenues made possible because of these investments so that we can re-allocate the growth related revenues into other strategically made decisions and strategies that will work to keep increasing the growth.

And, we need to work toward steering the business opportunities and jobs that are created as a consequence of this strategy in ways that better ensure that Hamilton County; Hamilton County residents and Hamilton County businesses will reap the benefits from our strategy so that we have a vibrant and prosperous community in the process. Then, and only then, Hamilton County will truly have recovered.