NKY in Motion: Big Plans, Bigger Questions

Northern Kentucky is on the move—but not without challenges. This week on the Blue Dot Podcast, we break down a bold vision for a regional trail network that could connect Boone, Kenton, and Campbell counties, boosting recreation, tourism, and community access. At the same time, Covington continues to wrestle with traffic disruptions from the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor project and growing concerns over how development is being managed.

We also dive into the controversy surrounding Kenton County’s Site Readiness Initiative, where tensions are rising between economic development goals and preserving agricultural land. Transparency remains a key issue, highlighted by a disputed Covington commission vote that’s raising questions about public accountability.

Finally, we zoom out to the disastrous policies at the national level. 

It’s a fast, informative look at the forces shaping Northern Kentucky right now—and why staying engaged matters more than ever.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to the Blue Dot, Northern Kentucky's premier political podcast, brought to you by the Kenton County Democratic Executive Committee. Welcome back to the Blue Dot Podcast for our weekly roundup where we deliver you all the news you need to know in 10 minutes or less. Thanks for joining. I'm Natalie McDonald.

SPEAKER_00 0:16

And I'm Brian Cale. National and international politics continue to shock and infuriate and entertain this week. And uh we'll touch on some of that absolute insanity in a few minutes, but uh there's also a lot going on right here in northern Kentucky and across the Commonwealth. Locally, transportation and economic development are taking center stage.

SPEAKER_01 0:37

Yeah, they sure are. And first off, and this one is a fun one. A new proposal could reshape how people move across the region. Local organizations, Tri-State Trails, and the Cincinnati Off-Road Alliance, or CORA, presented a feasibility report that unveiled plans for a massive trail system connecting Boone, Kenton, and Campbell counties, aiming to create a network for biking and walking that links communities and outdoor spaces. How fun is that?

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's great. Um, one NKY Alliance provided the funding for the feasibility report. Um, and Tri-State Trails and Cora say they have worked with 40 local and county governments, conservation districts, nonprofits, and community groups on recommendations that would allow cyclists and pedestrians to better navigate northern Kentucky.

SPEAKER_01 1:27

That would be pretty amazing. We could do like an NKY Dem march across the Tri-Counties. That would be fun.

SPEAKER_00 1:33

That'd be fantastic. Yeah, awesome.

SPEAKER_01 1:36

However, on the flip side, citizens in Covington are seeing construction tied to the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project and the much talked about Center for Biomedical Excellence, which is causing lane shifts and traffic changes, and it's really something that's going to be indicative of the growing pains that we're going to see coming towards us in the near future, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Yeah, that's for sure. I mean, I'm afraid the I-7175 approach to Covington and the Covington Riverfront area, they're going to be a real mess for the next, well, several months and maybe even years. Um elsewhere, there are developments on the growing pushback against Kenton County's proposed site readiness initiative, or SRI, which we've discussed. You know, if you recall, this plan focuses on preparing large areas of currently rural and agricultural land in southwest Kenton County, stretching along U.S. 25 from Grant County up to Kentucky 536 for potential industrial development. Despite widespread community opposition, county officials argue the effort is necessary, saying available industrial space is becoming limited and additional capacity will be needed to support future growth.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Yeah, and this whole growth issue in the region is going to be seen more and more, I'm sure, but the voices of the people have been heard and are making a difference as parts of the plan have been previously scaled back or paused. This week, the Northern Kentucky Sierra Club entered the public discourse to encourage Kenton County government officials to stop the SIRI project and find ways to encourage and support local farming and agriculture in South Kenton County. Progress is always defined by what is in the eye of the beholder, and we will be keeping an eye out for you on this one.

SPEAKER_00 3:21

Yep. Uh again, a lot of this is coming down to transparency, and the lack of transparency is what people are upset about. If our audience listened to the interviews we had with candidates Jordan Baldridge, Sarah Frelick, and Brand Owens, each of them pointed to the need for more transparency in county government. It seems like the people currently holding those positions are just operating on autopilot, doing the bare minimum the job requires and not engaging the public. And that is why we need to elect these progressive and community-focused candidates into office.

SPEAKER_01 3:54

Another issue concerning transparency took place this week. The Covington Board of Commissioners cast a split vote Tuesday night in favor of an easement for developers planning to build a roughly 270-unit mixed use development at the CRC or Covington Central Riverfront site. The item did not appear on the meeting's agenda and was instead walked on at the request of the city's Economic Development Department. The area in question is found on two blocks of the Covington Central Riverfront site, and it was approved by the board two years ago. But you're kind of bringing up some easements here that was not.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

Right. All this really stresses the importance of having a seat at the table so that when laws are passed, we have had our say. And speaking of laws being passed, more than one hundred new laws from the previous legislative session are set to go into effect here in Kentucky next month.

SPEAKER_01 4:51

That's right. Under the Kentucky Constitution, most laws passed by the General Assembly don't take effect right away. Instead, they automatically go into force ninety days after the session ends. Now, while a handful of bills that were passed included emergency clauses, which means those kicked in immediately, the vast majority of nearly two hundred bills passed this spring are set to take effect on July fifteenth.

SPEAKER_00 5:14

Yeah, but if you recall, not everything that was proposed made it across the finish line. One of the most notable pieces of legislation that failed was Senate Bill 9. This was a sweeping omnibus housing bill that covered a lot of ground, everything from home construction processes to eviction expungement guidelines, parking reform, and even provisions allowing third-party inspections. Well, you know, leave it to the Republicans to thwart something that could actually help the affordability crisis. You know, we saw the same thing happen in Washington this week. The White House and Republicans were set to announce the signing of the 21st Century Road to Housing Act, which was truly a bipartisan bill designed to actually help lower income and middle class Americans. The bill passed the Senate on a vote of eighty-five to five.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

And that eighty-five to five is a we don't see that.

SPEAKER_00 6:31

Hang on, let me get back into my seat.

SPEAKER_01 6:34

Right? My God. And this this would have been the most comprehensive housing policy bill of this century and could really have helped a lot of people. But Trump is holding it hostage because he does not have the support that he needs for his Save America Act, proving once again he, nor do the Republicans care about affordability for the American people. They're dead set on fealty to Trump and enriching the Elon slash Epstein class. And if you remember earlier this year, the president derouted bipartisan deal on intelligence and surveillance legislation, again citing the SAVE Act. So a lot of people on Capitol Hill, Republicans and Democrats alike, were just simply dumbfounded by this.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

Well, you know, Trump is doing everything he can to, you know, to try to cram the Save Voting Act through Congress. He mistakenly thinks that getting this act into law will somehow save him from the disastrous outcome in the upcoming midterm elections. All the act would actually accomplish is wrongfully disenfranchising millions of Americans. And, you know, sorry, Donald, eliminating a segment of the voter base is not going to prevent you and your GOP clown show from overwhelming defeat. The way to win elections is to actually do things that actually help those who elected you, and it's way too late for that. As we and many others have warned, health care facilities across the nation are starting to close due to a lack of funding. This crisis started with the extreme Medicaid cuts and Trump's big but ugly bill to the tune of nearly one trillion dollars, pulling ten billion dollars in rural health care funding from Kentucky more than any other state. Then Kentucky's Republican state budget made it worse by underfunding Medicaid by another six hundred and ninety-one million dollars and stripping funding from clinics and community services, putting some of Kentucky's most vulnerable citizens at risk of losing care.

SPEAKER_01 8:25

I mean, there's just no clearer way than to say to your constituents, we don't care about you.

SPEAKER_00 8:30

Yeah, no kidding.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

You know? And as you stated, Brian, birthing centers, dialysis clinics, cancer treatment departments have already been closed, but we're starting to see effects beyond health care. Foster care services are being forced to close. Schools are losing funding because inflation is outpacing the seek payments. And you know, Brian, I'm an eternal optimist, but it's really hard to see the positive in the political world when Trump, his policies, and the Republican supermajority in Kentucky, who are in lockstep with the president, are doing nothing to help the American people or the people of Kentucky. They just keep making everything worse. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:07

You know, Trump ran on draining the swamp. Well, instead, he dug the damn thing even deeper. And not only that, he has now funnel that putrid swamp water into one of our most cherished monuments on the National Mall, the reflecting pool. And we've all seen what a disaster this has been. I mean, if he wanted to make improvements, great. Bring in the experts, do the analysis, identify solutions, put out an invitation to bid to qualified service providers, you know, but instead the job goes on a no bid contract to your pool guy from Ar Lago, a fourteen effing million dollars. Then you drive your motorcade across it for inspection like some banana republic dictator. You give out a no-bid contract for a filtration system to a company run by one of your donors, no surprise, another one point seven million, but then fill the pool with raw water from the Potomac River before the filtration system is installed. All of this is just further proof of the now well-worn adage, everything Trump touches dies.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

Yeah, this and it it's just astonishing, to be honest. But I have to admit, the memes coming out of this at the expense of this pop might have really funny.

SPEAKER_00 10:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:16

It brings me a little joy to see people in their frog outfits down there again. You know.

SPEAKER_00 10:21

I mean plenty of plenty of material.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

It is, but he's out there lying every day. He's like saying, oh, they cut it with a razor and you know, blatant, blatant lies. And yet somehow people still believe, believe. I mean, I don't know, yesterday he was blaming the Democrats for, you know, again, cutting it. And then somehow he brought in Act Blue, which is the digital funding platform used by Democrats. I don't know how he pulled that one in, but he's like, well, might as well.

SPEAKER_00 10:47

Yeah, right. I mean, unlike Trump, Act Blue has some real work to do for the American people. But you know, the good news is we the people have the power to end this debacle. I mean, does all this make you angry? Are you ashamed of how our amazing country is being dragged through the dirt by this guy and his band of bootlickers? Are you embarrassed by our current so-called leaders on the world stage? Well, good. Let's fix it. Get involved, knock on doors, share on social media, and we will flip seats, corral the supermajority in Kentucky, and take back the House and the Senate. This is how we wake our country up from this seemingly never ending nightmare.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

Yes, indeed, Brian, that is what we're gonna do, and we're gonna continue to talk about it next week because our 10 minutes are up. Until next time, as always, stay curious, keep the facts and focus, and never stop fighting for what matters. Peace out, everybody.