BY SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
BLUE ASH -- Greater Cincinnati needs to be a solid three-legged stool, advocates of "regionalism" say.
The trio of businesses, politicians and civic leaders must collaborate to make the area prosper, participants agreed Friday at the end of a two-day summit on developing closer ties in the region. But instead of regionalism being embraced, turf battles, lack of political leadership and poor city schools have created a wobbly triad that threatens Cincinnati's economic future, some said.
"We have let those boundary lines become barriers to our progress," the Rev. William F. Cleves, president of Thomas More College in Northern Kentucky, told the gathering of about 180 people.
The situation is worsened because of political squabbling in suburbs, municipalities and townships, added John Gilligan, former Ohio governor and co-chairman of Citizens for Civic Renewal. Another problem: businesses leaving Cincinnati.
"The movement to the suburbs has had a perverse result of creating a central city that is poor and minority," said Mr. Gilligan, a former Cincinnati councilman who lives in East Walnut Hills.
The suburbs and outlying counties will be hurt by the city's decline and the lack of an educated labor force, he said.
Competing towns must understand improvements for some do not have to mean losses for others, said panel member David O'Maley, president and chief executive officer of Ohio National Financial Services and representative of the Metropolitan Growth Alliance. "One area of our community does not have to win by getting a piece of another's pie," Mr. O'Maley said.
Politicians at the summit argued that corporate and civic leaders should play an equal role with government in regional development. "It really is up to the civic, business and political community to . . . exercise that leadership," said Cincinnati Mayor Roxanne Qualls.
Instead of blaming politicians, area residents should come to grips with divisive issues, the mayor said. For instance, at the mention of regionalism, suburban leaders often think the city and Hamilton County want money or a share of educational resources, she said.
It ultimately leads to messy conversations on race and housing that the community does not want to deal with, the mayor added.
Fairfield Vice Mayor Sterling Uhler urged leaders on both sides of the Ohio River to find common ground. What should be tackled, he said, are projects that affect everyone, such as transportation or the environment.
"If (Cincinnati goes) down the tubes, we're going next." Partnerships between the public and private sectors helped jump-start revitalization efforts in parts of Kentucky, said Rene True, director of research for the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development.
It's about creating something new, he said. "It's not rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic."
