This Week With Mark Mallory

At his weekly press briefing Tuesday, Mayor Mark Mallory said:



1. He'll be making a pitch Friday to national meeting planners in town learning about the city. He's meeting with them at a downtown Skyline and trying to convince them to bring their clients' meetings and events here. Four groups who visited Cincinnati on similar tours last year have scheduled events here, he said, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and Optimist International. He says those four events will equate to 6,661 room nights in hotels and $1.9 million in spending.



2. He'll be making an announcement Saturday related to Cincinnati's Sister Cities program - 9 a.m., Duke Energy Center, downtown. He didn't say what the announcement would be, only that he plans to visit all of Cincinnati's seven sister cities during his term/terms as mayor and that he hopes to reestablish and maintain relationships with all of the cities.



3. He heard an update Monday on the progress of the Cincinnati Initiative to Reduce Violence, or CIRV. That's the anti-homicide program copied after a 1990s one in Boston. He said the effects so far here have been dramatic with a 42% overall decrease in killings and a 61% decrease in "group-related" killings. The program's aim is to convince people who've been involved in prior crimes that were connected to groups (they don't like to say "gangs" because they say it's more loosely knit neighborhood types, not Crips and Bloods-type stuff) and see that they carry the message to the rest of the groups. That message? If anyone associated with the group is caught doing a homicide, the rest of his or her cohorts will feel the heat of law enforcement too.



4. He's attending a reception Saturday of the Black Lawyers Association and a symposium Monday of information technology officers from the 30 largest companies in the region, including Cincinnati Bell, Fidelity and Comair. Why? "To highlight that Cincinnati is a hot spot for information technology."



5. Friday morning, he'll help plant in Laurel Park, the West End, 50 trees donated by Mike Albert Leasing to commemorate the company's 50th anniversary. Members of the cast of The Guiding Light soap opera are expected to be on hand to assist. Mallory said he has never watched the show.



6. Re the merger of Delta Air Lines and Northwest: "I think it's early yet. But I'm happy that Delta is committing that they're not apparently closing any hubs... Delta's presence in Cincinnati is very important to us."



7. The state legislature should pass a pending bill to give filmmakers tax credits for working in Ohio. "It is very, very important that we get that tool." He wants Cincinnati to be the "movie capital of Ohio."



8. He didn't know anything about the scandal in Columbus involving Attorney Gen. Marc Dann until he got a text about it Monday and went online to check out stories about it. Asked what he thought about it, he said, "It is what it is."



9. The plan to move ahead with streetcars could be on council's agenda next week. "A little more conversation needs to happen. We can probably get it wrapped up this week."