Williams: How fight in Cincinnati could impact out-of-town Reds, Bengals fans

Dear Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval and City Council members:

I’m not writing to pile on about your inability to prioritize public safety and belated response to last weekend’s wee-hours attack/fight/brawl/incident/confrontation/whatever you want to call what happened at Fourth and Elm in Downtown.

I’m not interested in a political discussion about what to call it, nor do I care how you lean politically or what the folks on the opposite side of the aisle are saying.

What I care about is us not becoming viewed like New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle and the other places where city government has pushed public safety way down on the priority list.

Perception is critical. Perception drives decisions on events, which bring tens of thousands of visitors annually from the suburbs and hundreds of miles away. Perception helps drive a company’s decision to relocate, which can draw employees from around the globe.

Perception drives population growth.

I fear more abhorrent incidents will erode perception to a point where events and companies and visitors and prospective residents decide to stay away. What if that happens? I’m not trying to be an alarmist, but it's something any caring and competent city leader should be asking.

I love Cincinnati. I want to believe you do, too, although your neglect of public safety and overall lack of accomplishments during this term have made me question that at times.

These past few days have been a time of reflection. I’ve thought about my own journey to Cincinnati. I didn’t grow up here. My introduction to Cincinnati was the Reds. In 1986, when I was 11, I convinced my parents to make the 150-mile drive from rural Southeast Ohio to Cincinnati. We came back almost every summer for a Reds game until I graduated high school. We usually made a weekend out of it and also visited the zoo or Kings Island.

We always had a great experience. We always felt safe walking around Downtown. Those visits ultimately are why I chose to attend the University of Cincinnati. Those visits ultimately made me decide to make this my permanent home. I married a Cincinnati girl. I’m proud to say my two sons are natives who love the Reds, Bengals and Skyline.

To be clear, I live in a suburb. I lived in the city for several years before I had kids. I’d live in the city if the schools were better, but that’s not your fault. I work in the city and have ever since I moved back from Minnesota in 2007. We visit city parks. We go to Reds games. We eat at city restaurants. I spend a lot of money at city stores. My favorite place to shop is Koch Sporting Goods, located less than a half block away from where the attack/fight/brawl/incident/confrontation/whatever you want to call it occurred.

I tell you all this in hopes that you’ll think about the thousands of kids and parents visiting Cincinnati from outside the metro area this year for the Reds, Bengals, zoo and concerts. Those kids are potential future Cincinnatians.

I assume you want to grow the city’s population, a goal every local elected official should have. A great way to attract future residents is through the Reds, Bengals and all these other downtown events. Jobs are scarce in places like where I grew up. Where do you think a smalltown kid is going to look to go to college and get a job?

But what are those out-of-town parents thinking right now as the video continues to circulate across social and national media? Are they thinking twice about coming for a Reds or Bengals game? Are they going to wait until their favorite band goes to Indy or Columbus? I don’t know the answers.

It’s frustrating to hear some leaders, including Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney, spin this as “one incident (of) adults fighting,” as she told Channel 5. That is downplaying what’s happening in and around Downtown. It’s downplaying the impact of perception. It’s also not just “one incident.”

Any prospective visitor or resident can do a Google search and find that The Banks has an age-restriction curfew because the violence has gotten so bad there on weekend nights. That’s the front porch of our city, where the Reds and Bengals play and where business leaders have recruited young professionals to live. People have been attacked on Fountain Square and in Over-the-Rhine during your term.

Is this happening every minute of the day like some of your political enemies claim? Of course not. But forget politics.

I’m worried. Too many people have worked too hard to bring visitors, residents and workers to Downtown. I’ve noticed in recent months when I’m working out of The Enquirer newsroom that more people have been Downtown during the day, undoubtedly a result of efforts by Brendon Cull at the Chamber, Kroger, Fifth Third Bank, Procter & Gamble and many other leaders and companies to get workers back Downtown after the pandemic.

We’re redoing our convention center. We’re building a new convention hotel. Julie Calvert, Jeff Berding and Steve Leeper have worked hard to make Downtown a place to work, visit and live. Gary Lindgren, other business leaders and even some of you worked to create a sports commission to bring more sporting events Downtown and across the region. Hamilton County commissioners just decided to invest $350 million into the Bengals’ stadium.

All these decisions were made to bring people Downtown. But the growing perception that Downtown isn’t safe works directly against these efforts.

What if the perception that Cincinnati isn’t safe continues to take hold? Conventions will look elsewhere. Those hotel rooms will sit empty. Restaurants will struggle. Some will close permanently. People will stop looking to move into the heart of the city.

And they’ll be talking about us the same way they do New York City, Chicago, San Francisco and Seattle. That might seem laughable right now. You can dismiss it as a Fox News talking point.

But you better wake the heck up and get your priorities straight ASAP before it becomes a reality.

Sincerely,

Jason Williams

Columnist, The Cincinnati Enquirer

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How fight in Cincinnati could impact out-of-town Bengals, Reds fans