Issue 9 voted down

The courtyard stage at Arnold's Bar and Grill was standing room only as opponents of Issue 9 celebrated the success of the “No On 9” campaign by 13 percent Tuesday night.

Although important for the process of potentially integrating a streetcar system and high speed rail corridor connecting Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Cleveland, Issue 9's failure to pass is not a direct vote on building the lines themselves.

More than 38,000 people voted “no” on Issue 9.

“A lot of people would be handcuffing themselves by passing Issue 9,” said Andrew Snow, a policy advocate with the Chicago-based Environmental Law & Policy Center. “This is an issue that needs a lot of explanation.”

Snow, who lived in Cincinnati before moving to Des Moines, took a special interest in the streetcar and high speed rail and made his way to Ohio to help the “No On 9” campaign.

“The results are due to education,” Snow said. “We were very concerned about the possibility that this could put a damper on the high speed rail. There is $8 billion in federal funding and without 'No On 9,' it would bypass Ohio.”

The five-piece band, Lagnaippe, played music early in the night to more than 40 people as those against Issue 9 walked through the room with stickers and presented a poster with those endorsing the campaign. The poster listed endorsements by the AFL-CIO, SORTA, the University of Cincinnati's student government and Gov. Ted Strickland.

“In 11 years, we've had all winners [of elections],” said Ronda Androski, a co-owner of Arnold's. “We're very lucky and 'No On 9' knew it.”

Bret Androski, Ronda's husband and other co-owner of Arnold's insists the establishment is politically neutral.

“In past elections, we had Democrats in the courtyard and Republicans upstairs,” he said.

Grammer's, a bar in Over-The-Rhine also held a party: “Nein on Nine.”

Although there was no more than a dozen people there, patrons looked to a monitor with regularly updated election percentages if they weren't looking at their phones. Members of the group opposed to Issue 9's passage alternated between Grammer's and Arnold's. Grammer's hosted streetcar parties in the past as well.

“It's the de facto political ground,” said Bryon Martin, a supporter of the “No On 9” campaign. “Grammer's is such a historical place in the city. This is kind of a default celebration place.”