Residents urge Cincinnati City Council to stop Piatt Park lease to 3CDC

At a citizens forum that opened the council meeting, several residents urged Cincinnati City Council to block a proposed lease of Piatt Park to 3CDC and warned the deal could privatize public space and displace people who use the park.

Nick Pierock told council that 3CDC’s proposal “is not about privatizing a park or keeping people out of the green space,” and he asked rhetorically whether 3CDC was a private company. He said emails from 3CDC to city officials had suggested calling the police to prevent “specific groups of people” from using the park and demanded that council “take actionable steps to stop the lease of Piatt Park to 3CDC.”

Several other speakers expanded the criticism. Al Dalton accused 3CDC of seeking to “bleed this city dry” and said volunteers who hand out Narcan had saved more than 300 people; he concluded his remarks with, “I am willing to die for my people.” Rian Saud and other commenters questioned 3CDC’s continued access to TIF funding and suggested community councils lack resources for shelters and neighborhood programs. Chris Sarton, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, called 3CDC a “thorn in the side of this city” and urged broader organizing against what he described as corporate influence on local land use.

Speakers also raised related concerns about policing and displacement. Tobin Blake linked increased policing and surveillance to public-space restrictions in Over-the-Rhine and argued such measures accelerated demographic displacement. Jonathan Nortman framed the debate in international terms, saying local decisions about public space and staffing of city agencies reflected broader political priorities.

Other public commenters used the forum to raise housing and service problems: Carol Cunningham said she had been evicted, that she is homeless and seeking $11,000 from Greater Cincinnati Behavioral Health; Rayanne Saoud, a local truck-company owner, described repeated traffic stops and towing costs she called harassment; and Helena Jones alleged escrow theft by a landlord and sought city accountability.

The forum included visitors from Cincinnati’s sister-city relationship with Kharkiv: Maxim Bondariff, who leads a sports and humanitarian center, and Bob Herring of the Cincinnati–Kharkiv Sister City Partnership described ongoing humanitarian assistance.

The citizens forum concluded after roughly an hour and the council moved to its business agenda. No formal council action on Piatt Park was recorded during the meeting; public commenters asked council to consider formal steps if a lease for Piatt Park is under active consideration.