CINCINNATI, Ohio — Less than a month before an historic public vote that would sell off Cincinnati’s municipal railroad to Norfolk Southern, a growing coalition of community leaders are calling for the initiative to be defeated.
What You Need To Know
- Issue 22 asks for Cincinnati voters to approve the sale of the city's railroad to Norfolk Southern for $1.6 billion
- Right now, the city leases the railroad to Norfolk Southern for about $25 million per year
- Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval and five previous mayors support the sale
- Some community groups oppose it and rallied at City Hall to push for a "No" vote on Issue 22
Issue 22 will be on the ballot November 7th, asking voters to approve the proposed sale that is supported by Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval and five previous mayors. The city, which owns the only municipal railroad in the country, has been leasing the rail lines to Norfolk Southern for about $25 million a year. The company wants to buy the railroad for $1.6 billion.
Pureval is promising that money would go to pay for improving the city’s infrastructure, including roads and firehouses but some community leaders aren’t buying it.
“We’ve heard promises before,” said Rev. Damon Lynch III, the pastor of New Prospect Baptist Church. He thinks proceeds from leasing or selling the railroad should be used for reparations to the city’s black residents.
“The Southern Railway was built using slave labor,” Lynch said. “The city’s been benefiting for hundreds of years from the backs of our ancestors who helped build this railroad. Right now, the median net-worth for whites in the city is 77-thousand dollars. Median net worth for African Americans is 17-hundred dollars.”
Lynch is joining forces with other community activists who think the city should hold onto the asset.
“This is our biggest asset in the city, the largest asset that we own,” said Brian Garry, the executive director of Neighborhoods United Cincinnati. “It’s like our family savings and they’re just selling it. They say they’re building Cincinnati’s future? They’re selling Cincinnati’s future.”
Some at the rally say selling the railroad goes against everything they’ve learned about business since they were kids playing a popular board game.
“Growing up, we all played Monopoly,” said Lou Ebstein of Neighborhoods United. “Nobody would trade out a railroad and that’s what they’re doing.”