Historic Third Term for Todd Portune

Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune was sworn into a third consecutive term  January 7, 2009.

According to all available records [dating back to the great courthouse fire] Portune is the first Democrat to be sworn in to three consecutive terms in the history of the county.

Portune was the highest vote getter in any contested race in the county receiving over 250,000 votes and more than 64% of the electorate.

This will be the 8th time Portune has been sworn in to office.  He took the oath of office five times as a Cincinnati City Council Member.

Portune is completing his first term as President of the Board this week. He was the first Democrat to lead the county commission in 44 years.

Top Ten Highlights of Portune’s term as President include:

10.    Restoring collaborative relations with the city of Cincinnati, resurrecting the floundering Banks project; inking a development deal with the city of Cincinnati and developers Carter-Dawson; breaking ground March31, 2008.

9.    Establishing a joint office on Infant Mortality reduction with the city of Cincinnati

8.    Negotiating a reformation of the Southwest Ohio Regional transit Authority converting it to a regionally funded and regionally governed entity.

7.    Creating the “Connect to Success” initiative that will make contact with every high school dropout in Hamilton County and work to get them to recommit to a high school diploma or equivalent degree

6.    Developing a $1 Million Medicaid outreach and enrollment program to enroll all eligible families with a particular focus and making sure every eligible county child has access to health care

5.    Overseeing major reformation of county Job & Family Services including reforming Foster Care; Child Protective Services and creating the Benefits Bank

4.    Authoring new broad sweeping county policies on Energy Conservation and carbon producing emissions reductions; Construction Policies to make all county facilities Inclusion oriented and accessible for people with disabilities;

3.    Developing alternatives to incarceration by providing greater access to drug/alcohol addiction prevention services; expanding in home incarceration options; providing greater intake assessment to direct people with mental illness to treatment facilities;

2.    Expanding economic development options by reforming the county Port Authority in a way to provide the foundation for $50 Million - $100 Million of annual bond-funded development.

1.    Adopting and balancing three difficult budgets without raising taxes via rightsizing county government; reducing costs and reforming the organization.  Spending is below 1999 levels.

Don't Over-Regulate Cincinnati's Railroads

During a recent trip to Washington, D.C. Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune urged congressional leaders not to place additional regulatory burdens on Greater Cincinnati’s economically important freight railroad system. He joined other government and business leaders from across the country in speaking out against legislation that would overturn existing freight rail regulations. Portune advocated for legislation that provides tax incentives for investments in rail revitalization and expansion. “Freight rail is an indispensible driver of Greater Cincinnati’s economy because of its potential to attract new businesses and good paying jobs,” Portune said. “Our current competitive railroad infrastructure makes the region attractive to commerce. Unnecessary tinkering wit h how local railroads operate will hurt Hamilton County economically and costs us jobs.” Congress will soon consider legislation that seeks to re-regulate freight rail commerce and standardize shipping costs. The change will place Greater Cincinnati at a disadvantage. Currently, competition from interstate trucking, barges and commercial aviation, keeps the region’s freight rail shipping costs low. While an across the board fee structure may benefit other parts of the country, it will likely result in higher fees for local shippers and negatively impact the region’s economy. In Hamilton County, Portune has focused on three rail enhancements that promise to position Greater Cincinnati as the preeminent freight transit hub in the nation. The enhancements will provide for better utilization of barge traffic along the Ohio River via bulk terminals tied directly to the Queensgate Rail yard - one of the largest rail yards in the country. Specifically, Portune is working toward: • Providing a better direct link from the Queensgate Yard to bulk terminal facilities on the Ohio River operated by the city-county Port Authority; • Constructing a new main line south out of the Queensgate Yard into Northern Kentucky; and • Developing a rail spur from the underutilized Sharonville Yard (operating at 10% of capacity) to rail connections direct to Chicago. “Through Cincinnati’s freight rail yards, products are shipped across the country and sent around the world,” Portune said. “Economically, it’s worth fighting for.” In addition, Portune believes moving more freight by rail provides tangible benefits to the public in terms of reduced fuel use, lowered emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, economic stimulus and highway congestion relief. “A train can haul a ton of cargo 436 miles on a single gallon of diesel fuel,” added Portune. “Freight rail is cleaner and greener than most commercial shipping methods.” Portune is attending National Railroad Day as a member of Growth Options for the 21st Century (GO21); a non-profit grass roots organization supported by more than 2,000 community leaders nationwide who agree that moving more of the Nation’s freight by rail will benefit the public.