Alternate Western & Southern Open between Cincinnati and Charlotte | Letters

Just a thought about the Western & Southern Open. Why not alternate the event between Cincinnati (Mason) and Charlotte every other year and keep both venues viable. Both Cincinnati and Charlotte have the moniker of Queen City.

Courtney Tudor, Madeira

Full story about Western & Southern Open needs to be told

More important than the long, storied history of Cincinnati's Western & Southern Open is the outright potential theft of the tennis tournament that goes back to 1899 from Cincinnati residents. The story needs to be written about the U.S. Tennis Association's threats which resulted in them buying the tournament in 2009, their ridiculous treatment of Paul and Bruce Flory long-time heroes of Cincinnati tennis, the more than doubling of ticket prices and the final piece de resistance involving the substantial reduction of monies donated to charities from the tournament.

The final act of this mess is the selling out of Cincinnati citizens by transferring their tournament to South Carolina billionaire Ben Nararro who wants to move the tournament to Charlotte, North Carolina. This story is a tale of corporate greed at the expense of Cincinnati, and my true hope is that the Greater Cincinnati area doesn't accept this theft and works hard to keep their tournament here. The harm and potential loss to Cincinnati citizens of their tournament is a much larger story that needs to be told and written about with details explained.

Daniel Regenold, Glendale

Mayor, City Council should heed warning of Seattle police official

I urge the Cincinnati mayor and City Council members to read the letter a retiring Seattle police lieutenant wrote to the mayor of her city in which she lambasted the police chief, council and even the mayor himself for allowing her city to "descend into anarchy and chaos." She said that "their priority is playing politics and pandering to radical ideologies, rather than genuinely serving the city's and its residents' best interests." Thankfully, there are no signs of this in Cincinnati, and we can only hope that our leaders are dedicated to keeping it that way.

Terry Gerbach, Walnut Hills

Jan. 6 insurrection participants warrant prosecution

Concerning an Aug. 13 letter to the editor claiming President Joe Biden is "persecuting" his chief political opponent, it must be kept in mind that the president, as chief executive, has taken an oath to uphold the laws of the land. He uses his attorney general, as head of the U.S. Department of Justice, to litigate and prosecute, pursuant to that oath, alleged crimes before a federal court, which is part of the judicial branch and entirely separate from the executive branch.

The January 6 insurrection principals and participants certainly warrant prosecution under this obligation, but only the court can issue indictments.

Steve Applegate, Cleves

Voters understood Issue 1 was a Republican power grab

I am writing in reference to some Ohio Republican legislators who want to revisit Issue 1. Wake up! The majority of voters understand that this was a power grab by the politicians. Issue 1 would have made it virtually impossible for citizens to bring a ballot initiative to a vote. Issue 1 was about Republican politicians saying voters are stupid, don’t know what’s good for them and can’t be trusted to know when they are being hoodwinked. (Like when Republican Ohio Speaker of the House Larry Householder took a $60 million bribe to stick us with the bailout for FirstEnergy. We tried to get that recall on the ballot, but the crooks stopped it.)

These are the same politicians who haven’t listened to the voters on gerrymandering and were elected by an unlawful map. They want to control our everyday lives and are making sure of it by denying us fair voting maps. They want to dictate what we should believe, and want to guarantee it by controlling women and education in particular. As Gov. Mike DeWine said, "The people have spoken."

If it weren’t for the unlawful gerrymandering, I wonder what the Ohio Legislature would look like?

Theresa Howard, College Hill

Human life has become worthless to some

I am not an anti-abortionist. I believe reasonable accommodations such as rape, incest or a severely compromised fetus as well as a 15-week after conception period would be acceptable. But I do not believe that taking the life of a viable, healthy human being up to the day before its natural birth or even on the day of its birth needs to be in the Ohio Constitution. How sad that would be. No wonder we have random killing on our streets. To some of us, human life has become worthless.

Peter Ulbrich, Union Township

Keep the railroad and let city streets deteriorate

The Enquirer editorial ("Time for Cincinnati to get out of the railroad business," Aug. 13) supporting the sale of the city's railroad to meet infrastructure needs rests on the presumption that city streets are public places to be funded by the taxpaying public. City streets given over to motor vehicles are not public places, they are dangerous places fit only for the conveyance of motor vehicles. Paved streets are not a public cost, they are one of the costs involved in owning and operating a motor vehicle. The cost of maintaining streets must fall directly on the owners of motor vehicles, not on the general taxpaying public.

For decades now vehicle owners have been unwilling to cover the costs they incur on the city. This unwillingness can be found spread throughout the city's $400 million maintenance backlog. The Park Board's $73 million backlog for example is largely devoted to roads and parking. Millions were recently taken from the city's capital fund to repair a landslide on Columbia Parkway. Columbia Parkway is not a public place, it is a convenience for privately owned vehicles to get somewhere 10 minutes faster. The general taxpaying public paid.

Curbs, sidewalks and streetlights are public goods funded out of property taxes. Motor vehicles pay no property taxes for the streets and public parking devoted to them. The gas tax and license fees the city receives from the state are a pittance to the public safety, infrastructure and operational costs incurred by motor vehicle's use of the city streets. So now we are going to sell the city's railroad to fund a necessary expense of owning and operating a motor vehicle for which vehicle owners themselves are unwilling to pay for? Keep the railroad and let the streets deteriorate.

Ronald Hischak, Evanston

Spend money on Maui not Ukraine

Americans watched in horror as Maui burned from uncontrolled wild fires. The historic former capital city of Lahaina destroyed. Unbelievable that the county of Maui ( Islands of Maui, Molokai and Lanai) have a total of 13 fire engines and two ladder trucks. Island residents would love to have had the modern firefighting left behind on the abandoned Bagram Air base in Afghanistan after our disgraceful withdrawal.  Or better yet, some the billions of dollars shipped to Ukraine with a lack of accountability. The head of the Ukrainian draft board was fired this week after his family invested millions on Spanish real estate. Perhaps residents of Maui should claim Ukrainian citizenship?

Al Brauer, Montgomery

Political scandals also played part in Issue 1 defeat

I find it interesting that news reports of Issue 1's failure is attributed to both the voters not being fooled and upcoming referendums in the fall. I also think that coming off the biggest political scandal in Ohio's history had something to do with it. We realized that everyone was getting the short end of the stick on that one, so some leash tightening needs to happen, and some of the GOP were trying to slip the collar.

David Woodburn, Pleasant Ridge

Bengals owner makes veiled threat to move team

Regarding the latest saga of Bengals lease negotiations with Hamilton County, Bengals owner Mike Brown continues his same old threats. Brown has fleeced Hamilton County taxpayers for decades while most of the time fielding an incredibly bad product. Decade after decade of just plain old bad losing football. In return, the county and taxpayers reached into their pockets, ending up on the short end of the stick on the stadium lease. So now the Bengals are on the cusp of another season, and another lease negotiation. Fans are excited, the Bengals are making money and Bengals jerseys are going to be flying off the shelves for the next seven months. Every home game between September and January will be sold out. Instead of being grateful and thanking the taxpayers of this town, Brown once again starts off the latest round of lease negotiations with veiled threats to move the team. Brown says he doesn't want to publicly discuss stadium lease negotiations, but he's the first to do so by publicly threatening to leave town. Give it a rest, Mike.

Steven Otto, Maineville

Cincinnati needs mission statement before brand or slogan

Mayor Aftab Pureval recently stated Cincinnati needs a slogan and a brand ("What is Cincinnati's slogan?" Aug 6). I wholeheartedly support this idea and would expect no less from a former P&Ger. However, before we get all excited about branding and sloganeering, should we not first address the fact that the city of Cincinnati has no mission statement?

Several years ago, while working on an engagement research project, some 15 cities were contacted to explore what they were doing to improve community engagement. It was in researching their websites it became clear they had mission statements and core values front and center on their websites. Although City Council has its own mission statement, the city as a whole does not.

Without a mission statement, how does the city communicate to the public its purpose and goals? A well=thought out mission statement clearly identifies a city’s priorities to the public and reminds staff and administration of the values they are expected to uphold and which goals to emphasize. How else can residents measure whether the city is doing a good job?

Soon after Pureval assumed his mayoral duties with a new City Council committed to move in new directions, I wrote him about the need for a mission statement for Cincinnati. I never heard back. Before we decide on a slogan and brand, it seems to me we need to know what the city stands for. We need to know what core values are guiding our elected officials’ and administrative staff as they work for and represent we the people.

Sue Wilke, Northside

Reds may be squandering a golden opportunity

The Cincinnati Reds are missing a golden opportunity this year. With a down National League Central division, new energetic players and an improving team, the Reds seemed poised to win their division 25 games ago, but it seems like those hopes are steadily fading in recent games. Management chose not to seek pitching help for the stretch run at the trade deadline and seem content to win maybe 80 games. Each year, players are switched around in Major League Baseball and most teams are always trying to improve. So next year, the NL Central may be too tough for the Reds to even have a shot.

Small-market teams need to take advantage of being in contention in August. It might not happen again for years. You have to go after it when you have a shot. The Reds dropped the ball this year and it stings − especially after winning 12 games in a row.

Lee Eyerman, Amelia

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Alternate Western & Southern Open between Cincinnati and Charlotte