Razing Texas
City workers want to avoid layoffs. Their union reps don't want pay cuts & demotions.
Their solutions? Nothing worthwhile. Since the casino should increase crime, using a portion of it's proceeds for the police department would make sense but that's down the road & the city of Cincinnati needs to balance it's budget from year to year. It's not a business that can operate in the red.
Labor unions, public employees & the vocal NAACP prez have known about this budget shortfall since the last budget process.
Revenues are down due to a recession. The cost of running the city has not gone down - it's pretty static. The solution is simple. People who can afford the cash need to pay more. That's right - A TAX HIKE. Will councilmembers do it? notachance (although they could have been more austere last year & laid people off requiring fewer layoffs this year).
However the unions & organizations that tell us just how important it is to keep these public employees working could and should do it. I mean, put your money where your mouth is. The NAACP is good at, if nothing else, ballot initiatives. Upon knowing about the greater shortfall for this year's budget, they should have put together some kind of tax plan to pay for these services that we could have voted for in November. The bellyachin', theatrics & half baked solutions are just noise.

Fishwrap story here.