COAST Declares Premature Victory While Leader Faces Foreclosure. The Streetcar Battle is Far From Over.

Today it was announced that the city of Cincinnati would not be receiving any federal TIGER stimulus funds for its proposed Modern Streetcar project. Meanwhile, the cities of Tuscon, Arizona and Dallas, Texas received federal stimulus dollars for their projects. Out of 1457 projects that applied for funding, only 51 had their requests met in some fashion. Does this mean the death of the proposed Cincinnati Streetcar? Not by a long shot. The project has applied for other grants and the word will be out on those in the future. Is this a setback? Yes. However, unlike COAST would like to believe, this not the death of the project and this is certainly not a victory for the Anderson Township based fringe group.

Check out this tweet where COASTer Mark Miller (yeah, that guy who made fun of a dead American combat veteran) declares victory:

I don't think the brilliant minds at COAST are aware that this was not the only funding grant the streetcar project had applied for, nor is this set back an imminent threat to the project as shown here. Maybe the boys at COAST should brush up on a little bit of their history of assumed premature victories:

Meanwhile, in other COAST news: While COAST chairman Jason Gloyd was busy fighting red light cameras in Cleveland and declaring premature victory in the Cincinnati Business Courier, he wasn't busy paying his mortgage. As City Beat has reported: the COAST leader faces a foreclosure on his home.

Image provided by the boys at COAST.

One has to wonder why a man who can't take care of his own finances feels so inclined to lecture others on how to properly spend their money. Maybe Jason should get the court case set against him by Hamilton County in order first before he declares victory for COAST. We wish the best for Jason and his family through this tough time.

Just as there are no TIGER funds for streetcar, there will be no TIGER funds for Gloyd's mortgage.

10 Years of COAST. What do They Have to Show for it?

In case you haven't heard, our good friends at the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST) recently celebrated their tenth anniversary. A happy new year/anniversary post on their blog encouraged their readers to "Leave your many fond recollections of COAST in the comments." The only person who commented was me, who reminded them of the fond memories I have when we defeated their Issue 9. So in honor of COAST's 10th Anniversary let's take a look back at what they have to show for the past decade...

- Members of the local fringe group, COAST.

2010 -- COAST starts the new decade off by POKING FUN AT THE DEATH OF VIETNAM COMBAT VETERAN AND AMERICAN POLITICIAN, JOHN MURTHA.

2009 -- COAST's proportional representation campaign fails and out of 17 politicians and issues endorsed in the November election, ALL FAILED, EXCEPT FIVE. Issue 9, a deceptive campaign started by COAST and the NAACP, aimed at stopping the Cincinnati streetcar project , IS DEFEATED BY VOTERS 56% - 44%.

2008 -- COAST sues to stop use of City Hall facilities for pro-tax purposes AND THEN THE USES CITY HALL FACILITIES TO ADVOCATE THEIR OWN AGENDA, KINDA HYPOCRITICAL, NO?

2008 -- COAST passes a ban in Cincinnati on the use of red light and speeding cameras WORSENING OUR BUDGET AND HURTING OUR PUBLIC SAFETY.

2007 -- Commissioners impose 1/2 ¢ sales tax increase without a vote. COAST joined WeDemandAVote.Com Coalition to collect 56,000 signatures and to defeat the hated tax, WORSENING OUR BUDGET AND HURTING OUR PUBLIC SAFETY.

2007 -- COAST attempted to sue in order to stop taxpayer funding of Commissioner David Pepper's girlfriend's Greater Cincinnati Film Commission, which works to bring jobs and promote the tri-state area. COAST FAILED. COMMISSION STILL FUNDED BY GOVERNOR STRICKLAND'S TAX INCENTIVES. AND WHY DO THEY HATE DAVID PEPPER SO MUCH? THEY REALLY HATE DAVID PEPPER.

2007 -- COAST launches efforts to stop taxpayer funding of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. FAILURE. CENTER STILL RECEIVES FUNDING.

2005 -- COAST arranged for legal representation for woman in Loveland criminally charged with owing $1.16 in income tax, resulting in a dismissal of the charges. THIS IS ONE OF ONLY TWO ACTUAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS ON THE LIST.

2004 -- North COAST formed to aid in the fight against excessive taxes and spending in Butler and Warren Counties. NOT AN ACCOMPLISHMENT, JUST WAIT FOR NORTH CAAST TO FORM AGAINST THEM.

2003 -- passed a Charter Amendment in Cincinnati preventing the use of tax dollars to campaign for tax increases ACTUALLY THIS IS A GOOD IDEA, BUT WAS ALREADY PROHIBITED BY STATE LAW O.R.C. 9.03(C)(1)(E)

2003 -- joined a coalition called ALRT to defeat a 1 ¢ sales tax increase for a light rail transit system (since the defeat of this tax increase, COAST has done NOTHING to step up against tax increases and additional spending on highways and roads). WRONG YEAR AND IF YOUR ONLY ACCOMPLISHMENT IS DESTROYING THE WORK OF OTHERS, I GUESS ARSONISTS ARE PRETTY ACCOMPLISHED TOO.

2002 -- A COAST lawsuit prevents Cincinnati Public Schools from abusing tax dollars to advocate for political causes such as tax increases. SEE ABOVE (THIS WAS ALREADY A LAW).

2001 -- defeated an effort to fund the "Regional Coltural Alliance" with $500,000 in tax dollars. THEY MAY HAVE JUST MADE THIS ONE UP; A SEARCH OF "COLTURAL" IN THE CITY AND COUNTY LEGISLATIVE ARCHIVES PRODUCES NO RESULTS.

2001 -- Brought the property tax rollback to Cincinnati that continues to this day WORSENING OUR BUDGET AND HURTING OUR PUBLIC SAFETY.

2000 -- Defeated funding by the City of Cincinnati for an effort to bring the 2012 Summer Olympics to Cincinnati. YOU KNOW WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT? THE OLYMPICS BRINGING BILLIONS OF DOLLARS INTO OUR REGION, LIKE IT DID IN BEIJING, VANCOUVER, SYDNEY, and SALT LAKE CITY!

1999 -- defeated the zoo tax levy. WE HAVE ONE OF THE TOP ZOO'S IN THE NATION, LET'S KEEP IT THAT WAY.

1999 -- defeated the police communications levy HURTING OUR PUBLIC SAFETY.

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10 years. An entire decade and what does COAST have to show for it? A staunch record of saying "no," huge budget deficits within the city of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, and a record of opposing public safety programs. Their only real accomplishments were prohibiting public funds to used to potentially influence elections, however, this was already a state law, and a minor criminal defense matter that could've been handled by any competent lawyer.

The Callousness of COAST

In case you haven't heard, Congressman John Murtha passed away yesterday after complications due to a recent gall bladder surgery he had. While I was certainly not always a fan of Murtha's politics, America has lost not only a statesman respected by both parties, but a combat veteran who proudly served his country in the Vietnam war.

However, the head honchos at COAST don't see that. We've seen COAST stoop low, but never this low. Check out what COAST treasurer Mark Miller, who authors the COAST Twitter account, had to say about this war veterans death:

Is there any behavior above COAST? We already knew that lying, calling people slang words for sexual organs, intentionally deceiving voters, and inflating actual numbers were things that the folks had COAST never had no problem doing, but now Mark Miller thinks its appropriate to make fun of dead combat veterans and politicians?

- The man behind the tweets. COAST treasurer, Mark Miller.

"[John Murtha] Should've died in prison." "Good Riddance bad egg."

This isn't the first time CAAST has been alerted of Miller's nonsense on Twitter. A few months ago we pointed out how he resorted, on two occasions, to calling his opponents "pussies" in the wake of political defeat. You can read about those incidents here and here. On top of that, the Cincinnati Blog showed us how COAST has been editing other peoples tweets to bolster fake support for themselves! Read about that here.

Miller and COAST did not stop with the Murtha tweets though. Yep, you guessed it, there's more. Check out this other tweet from @GOCOAST:

Ironically, in this tweet, we see COAST complaining that the downtown Riverfront Transit Center is "empty." It's ironic because for starters it is not empty. The Center is used multiple times throughout the year to house charter buses for large scale events downtown. System Parking operates it and has a contract with the city, allowing the city to bring in some profit from the event parking. By calling it "empty" COAST is referring to how it has never been used for light rail purposes. Why hasn't it? Because COAST worked to defeat Metro Moves in 2002 which would've put the transit center to good use and made it the center for light rail activity in the heart of downtown. They have no one to blame but themselves for it being "empty."

You may remember recently, I challenged COAST to answer why they continue to intentionally lie about rail transit. My challenge went unanswered, COAST even blocked me from following their Twitter account (guess they can't take criticism backed by factual evidence). As COAST continues to complain about the 3C Rail Corridor throughout Ohio, they offer no alternative. The group is wiling to turn down $400 Million in federal funding that would provide a new transportation option for Ohio residents and be a step towards high speed rail. That $400 Million would just go to another state, it couldn't be used anywhere else here. So what's the alternative? What is COAST's plan for the future?

It's simple, they don't have one. COAST has proven time and time again that immature behavior and name calling is their standard operating procedure. They offer no solutions or alternatives while mocking the dead. Maybe someone should get Mark Miller and his buddies a one way ticket to Colorado Springs.