Friday, December 24, 1999
Empowerment zone going nowhere, Winburn charges
BY DAN KLEPAL
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati's new empowerment zone board has been powerless during its first year because of infighting, a lack of direction and an organizational structure that has rendered it lame, a city council member says.
Councilman Charles Winburn, in a memo to councilman Paul Booth Thursday, says the 33-member board is in “shambles” and needs “a major overhaul immediately.”
Mr. Booth is the new chair of council's Neighborhood and Public Works Committee.
“If we don't get this agency on track, we will lose (empowerment zone) designation,” said Mr. Winburn, a member of the public works committee.
Empowerment zones were created and funded by the federal government to help eliminate blighted neighborhoods and poverty in core urban areas.
The city organization has received $6.9 million so far: $6.1 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), $600,000 from a state block grant and $250,000 from the city's Department of Neighborhood Services.
Board members agree the organization is off to a slow start.
Jerry Pryor, an Avondale resident who was one of the driving forces in getting the empowerment zone established, said the board needs to work more as a team in the coming year.
“We have control issues. We have egos. We have self-serving people” on the board, Mr. Pryor said.
But Mr. Pryor disagrees that Cincinnati's empowerment zone is in danger of being cut off from federal funds. And, he said, it sometimes takes three or four years for empowerment zones to make a difference.
“Eliminating poverty is something the city has not been able to accomplish in its existence,” Mr. Pryor said. “For those same officials to criticize us for not accomplishing in 10 months what they haven't in 200 years is hypocrisy.”
Mr. Winburn's memo outlines more than a dozen alleged problems and recommends six steps to solve them, including hiring an executive director within a month.
Mr. Booth said the committee will discuss the issues raised by Mr. Winburn after the first of the year.
The city's empowerment zone includes nine neighborhoods: Avondale, Clifton-Fairview, Corryville, Evanston, Mount Auburn, Over-the-Rhine, Queensgate, Walnut Hills and the West End.
FROM WINBURN'S MEMO
Charles Winburn's memo outlines more than a dozen alleged problems with the empowerment zone board and recommends six steps to solve them, including:
• Requiring the board to submit a one-year comprehensive action plan outlining its goals and how to reach them.
• Requiring the board to make progress reports each month to the Neigh borhood and Public Works Committee.
• Hiring an executive director within 30 days.
Councilman Paul Booth said the committee will discuss the issues raised after the first of the year.
He said getting an executive director for the group would be a huge help in giving direction and acting as a liaison with the city.
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