Creating more red tape won't make it easier to do business in Cincinnati | Letters

Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval is sympathetic to those dealing with city government bureaucracy, telling Enquirer reporter Sharon Coolidge that "whether it's opening a business or investing in the city − (the process) is more challenging than it should be." His solution of increasing the amount of bureaucracy is the exact opposite of what should be done. The city doesn’t need an Office of Strategic Growth that will spend $10 million more of taxpayers' money. It has a Department of Community and Economic Development with a $5.2 million budget and 38 employees.  Why will adding more layers of bureaucracy make it easier to do business in Cincinnati? If the Department of Community and Economic Development functions like most bureaucratic organizations in government, it is horribly inefficient.

Pureval histrionically claimed that if voters didn’t allow the sale of the city-owned railway last fall, it would set the city on a path toward a "slow death." Voters approved the sale, yet surprise, Pureval wants to raise taxes so he can open more economic development agencies, because duplicating government services is apparently a wise use of taxpayer dollars. Any slow death the city of Cincinnati undergoes will be a death from strangulation by inefficient government red tape and high taxes.

Jason Schlabach, Indian Hill

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Creating more red tape won't make it easier to do business in Cincinnati | Letters