The Cincinnati NAACP is organizing opposition to the proposed sale of the Cincinnati Southern Railway.
Norfolk Southern has been operating on the city-owned railway under a lease agreement, but now wants to buy it for $1.6 billion. If voters approve the sale, the revenue would be put into an investment account with earned interest spent on maintaining existing infrastructure.
Cincinnati NAACP President Joe Mallory says the lack of public engagement on the plan is concerning.
"We're not the monolith for the entire Black community, but we do have a constituency that we represent," Mallory said. "We're tired of being left behind and forgotten. We deserve a seat at the table, not as an afterthought ... we need to be [there] from the beginning with a racial equity lens."
LEARN MORE: 26 questions (and counting) about the Cincinnati Southern Railway sale, answered
A political action committee initially funded by Norfolk Southern is campaigning in favor of the sale. A few separate PACs have been organized to oppose it.
Iris Roley from the Black United Front says she's concerned about how the money will be spent.
"Because if we're not trying to close the racial wealth gap, we're not lifting up Black people in this town. Black people will continue to be left behind, locked out, shut out, looked over, told to wait some more," Roley said. "We don't have any other time to wait."
The City Manager's Office has prepared a plan for how the city could spend an additional $250 million over 10 years, what they say is a conservative estimate for how much the city could make on investment revenue.
The plan presents catching up on a $400 million backlog of deferred maintenance is an investment in equity.
"Equity is at the forefront of every decision in the administration," City Manager Sheryl Long said during a recent presentation to City Council. "I take seriously my responsibility to serve every citizen in every neighborhood and recognize that some areas have historically seen fewer resources. This is something that we inherited."
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Existing city guidelines set goals for working with women-owned, minority-owned, and small business when spending public dollars. Based on those targets, the administration estimates generating tens of millions of dollars:
- Women Business Enterprise (8%): $20 million
- Minority Business Enterprise (12%): $30 million
- Small Business Enterprise (30%): $75 million
New revenue into the city capital budget is expected to free up about $3 million that could be spent on capital projects other than existing infrastructure. The city manager recommends spending that $3 million on community development projects.
All city spending is ultimately up to City Council, which uses the city manager's recommendations as a starting point but can change in any way.
RELATED: How Cincinnati could spend the money from a potential Cincinnati Southern Railway sale
"This conversation should have started in February, when we wrote our first op-ed," Roley says. "This isn't a new conversation for the Black community; we've been screaming, marching, crying, dying, trying to get equity in the place that we call home. And we deserve it right now."
Early voting started Wednesday ahead of the Nov. 7 election. You can learn more about the proposed sale, plus many other ballot measures, through WVXU's comprehensive voter guide.
