Thumbs down: Reds' dismal 2022 season one to forget

Editor's note: Thumbs up/Thumbs down are short editorials that celebrate successes across our region and call out those who stand in the way of progress.

Thumbs up

Burrow: 'Everyone has a responsibility to do good'

Joe Burrow is proving himself to be a quality leader on the football field and in the community. The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback launched The Joe Burrow Foundation on Tuesday with the goal of helping meet the needs of families working to overcome food insecurity and childhood mental health issues by providing resources and support to underprivileged and underserved people in Ohio and Louisiana. "Everyone has a responsibility to do good," Burrow wrote in an Instagram post announcing the nonprofit. Burrow's foundation is likely to do a lot of good for a lot of people, especially here in Cincinnati where nearly a quarter of the population lives in poverty. Whether throwing touchdown passes, speaking out on issues such as gun violence and abortion or offering a helping hand to those in need, Burrow continues to show why the Bengals - and the Queen City - are lucky to have him as the face of the franchise.

Minimum wage workers get overdue pay bump

Ohio workers making minimum wage will see a few more dollars in their paychecks next year, as the state will increase the rate from $9.30 an hour to $10.10 an hour for non-tipped employees. The rate for tipped employees will be $5.05 per hour. The 80-cent jump marks the largest increase since Ohio tied minimum wage to inflation in 2006. Those at the bottom of the job market − including lots of students − are paying a lot more for everything these days with inflation rising so quickly. Ten dollars and ten cents is still a far cry from the $15 per hour minimum wage Democrats have proposed, but these are long overdue corrections that make life more manageable for the average Ohioan.. 

Election year pandering? Maybe, but tax cut still a good idea

Anything that lessens the fiscal burden on young parents is a good thing, especially in these times of rising inflation. That's why we are giving Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine credit for his proposal to eliminate sales taxes on baby items and expand insurance coverage for lower-income mothers. Still, no one, including DeWine, should think making baby items more affordable will solve all the problems with banning abortion or endear him to women angry about having their basic rights to their own health care decisions taken away. Yes, it feels like election year pandering, but we're never opposed to a tax cut that helps working-class families.

Kentucky recovers $15 million, land from failed industrial deal

While it's sad to see that a deal to deliver more jobs to eastern Kentucky fell through, it's a relief to see that state government was able to recoup taxpayers $15 million investment in the failed company. In 2018, Braidy Industries promised to build a $1.5 billion-dollar aluminum rolling mill near Ashland that would employ as many as 600 workers. The mill was projected to open as early as 2020, but that never happened after Braidy Industries failed to meet its investment goals.  Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear recently announced that not only did the state recover the $15 million, but the Northeast Kentucky Regional Industrial Authority was in the process of re-securing all the property that was conveyed to or being used by the Braidy project. Governments throughout the Tristate should be taking a close look at these kinds of deals and tax incentives in their communities. How often does they result in lasting job creation?  How often is it a better public investment than other expenditures such as infrastructure or quality of life? Maybe this was a particularly bad deal, but how much scrutiny do most deals get after the fact? You have to wonder whether taxpayers are getting the short end of things more often than not. 

Thumbs down

Reds' dismal 2022 season is one to forget

"Well, where are you gonna go?" The answer Reds COO Phil Castellini thought he might get from fans instead came from his own team: nowhere. After a dismal 2022 season in which the Reds nearly set a record for futility by losing 100 games, that's exactly where this team is going. No playoffs for the second year in a row and the eighth time in the past decade. And how about 19 seasons with 90 or more losses? "Well, where are you gonna go?" Reds fans apparently stayed home judging by all the empty seats at Great American Ghost Town. This was a year to forget from the moment Castellini put his foot in his mouth by berating fans who had the audacity to ask Reds ownership to put a competitive team on the field. Castellini and the organization have their work cut out for them to mend fences with their disgruntled fanbase, assemble a winning team and put out this raging dumpster fire. "Well, where are you gonna go?" How about just up the banks of the Ohio River to Paycor Stadium where Cincinnati sports fans can pay to see a team that's at least competing for a championship.

Search firm must deliver better results

You really have to question the collective wisdom of Cincinnati City Council for rehiring a search firm that received much criticism for the way it conducted a recent search for a new city manager. Council once again tapped Washington, D.C.-based PoliHire to help the city find its next health commissioner. Professional head hunters should be able to deliver multiple qualified candidates for the $40,000 price the city paid for their services. It's important to distinguish that this doesn’t mean Sheryl Long wasn’t the best person for the city manager position. But in general, the stiffer the competition for these jobs, the more citizens benefit. Now, residents will have to cross their fingers and hope the firm can do a better job finding and vetting candidates than it did the last time.

Schools must find a way to curb chronic absenteeism

A recent report showed that 30% of Ohio students were chronically absent during the 2021-22 school year, meaning they missed at least 10% of the school year. The numbers were even more pronounced for Black students, 50% of who were chronically absent. It's clear more needs to be done to close the absenteeism gap in our schools among urban/rural communities and across race and ethnicity. Data should drive and inform the investments to get this done. The numbers are also a reminder that we should have been having deeper conversations about shutting down schools during the pandemic and thinking about the tradeoffs (absenteeism started getting worse during the COVID year). That's not to say shutting down schools was the wrong decision given what we knew, but greater consideration of the tradeoffs was warranted. Unfortunately now, many of these students (and our community) will be living with the costs of lower educational attainment for decades. 

Making streets safer must become a higher priority

There have been five fatal pedestrian crashes and nearly 200 incidents of people being struck by cars in Cincinnati this year. We can do better about the driving and walking environment throughout the city, and for sure, do better about enforcement. The emergence of incivility and disrespect for others on the roadways is a disturbing trend the city must reverse. Some motorists are blowing through red lights, left and right.  They are making a choice to disregard people's safety. Increasingly, people who demonstrate very little respect for the lives or health of others in the community (or themselves and their passengers for that matter) are filling our roads. From City Council to the University of Cincinnati, leadership must do every thing in their power to make streets safer for pedestrians and other motorists and it starts with examining the design of our streets and better traffic enforcement.