BY KEVIN ALDRIDGE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MASON -- If there were any doubts about where city officials stood on Issue 10, council laid them to rest Monday night.
Council members passed a resolution, 6-0, strongly urging residents to "vote no" on Issue 10 on Nov. 3 and to "seek friends and neighbors who will join them in voting no." The resolution was passed just 37 days before voters will cast ballots on the controversial measure.
"Council just wants to go on the record and make residents aware of how this issue will cripple the city if it passes," City Manager Scot Lahrmer said. "It will cripple us from being able to approve roadways. It will cripple our planning for the city, and it will cripple us financially."
Tempers flared and emotions ran high at times during Monday's four-hour council meeting, half of which centered on the Tylersville Road issue. Council members and city staff squared off with proponents of Issue 10 in a seemingly endless debate over the effects of the proposed ordinance.
A parade of leaders from Concerned Citizens of Mason, the group that initiated a petition drive that landed Issue 10 on the ballot, came before council to criticize its alleged use of scare tactics and false information to curry votes.
"They are trying to frighten people into believing that without this (multi-)lane interstate connector Mason won't grow," said Lisa Hill, a member of Concerned Citizens. "That's just not true." Mason Mayor Betty Davis said to pretend that the ordinance would not have a profound effect on the city is to deny the real issues at stake.
"To say that there will be no improvements done on Tylersville Road if this issue passes was not intended to be a threat," she said. "But it was a dash of cold water to bring some reality back to the issue."
Mr. Lahrmer said if the ordinance passes the city would immediately lose about $5 million in federal money to assist the project.
In other business, council authorized the purchase of two rescue pumpers for Mason's new fire department at a cost of $960,165.
The two vehicles will provide fire suppression, rescue and emergency medical aid for residents when the department launches Thursday.
