Part 4: Fiscal Responsibility

Just like every other municipality in the United States, Cincinnati is facing a plethora of economic and financial issues. Cincinnati City Council for too long has been acting irresponsibly with our tax dollars, and as a result we are in situations like telling our retired city workers that we will have to renege on the retirement benefits that we have promised them. The time has come for a change on city council and to bring financial stability and responsibility back to city hall.

When I am elected to Cincinnati City Council I will fight for a five percent reduction in pay and in the office budget of the mayor’s office and each city councilperson. If it weren’t for some on city council during the last budget meetings, they would have passed a five percent budget reduction in the office budget for those on city council. Unfortunately we had a couple of council people that felt it was more important to make a political point and “ show who was in charge” rather than do what was best for the citizens of Cincinnati.

I will on city council, fight for those that through their hard work and dedication have earned the retirement that the City of Cincinnati has promised them. Cincinnati City Council must stand by these promises. It is not the fault of the retirees that Cincinnati City Council has mismanaged the city’s retirement program Changes must be made to the program but it should not be at the expense of those that are retired and were already promised their benefits.

How do we pay for this? The answer is through redevelopment. We can pay for this by making our city more business friendly and to make the city more attractive to live in. Taking these steps will increase Cincinnati’s tax base without increasing taxes or cutting vital services to our citizens. Investing in promoting business and population growth in Cincinnati through redevelopment of infrastructure is fiscally responsible.

Part 3: Addressing Socio-Economic Issues in Cincinnati

Cincinnati is no different than many cities throughout the country that are dealing with socio-economic issues or what I like to call class warfare. What will hopefully be different is how we as citizens and what our elected officials will do to engage this issue in a manner that this beneficial to all that live in Cincinnati. The citizens of Cincinnati need to not only elect officials that have the vision to move forward with improving our infrastructure and increase our tax base through new business, but we must elect officials that understand while doing this we cannot leave behind those in need like we have so many times in the past.

When it comes to economic development in Cincinnati I feel many times we do this at the expense of the poor in this city. We seem to take the attitude that if we can move the poor out and create “ a better neighborhood” then it will make Cincinnati as a whole better. I would argue that in fact that this has made our city worse. The reason why this is the case is because we are forcing the poor out of more of our neighborhoods in Cincinnati and they are moving into more concentrated areas, which is increasing crime in those areas like for example Price Hill. I am by no means saying that all people are criminals what I am saying that statistics show that poorer areas tend to have more crime.

All plans with regards to neighborhood redevelopment should be sensitive to the potential displacement of all residents in the area whether they are rich or poor. I am not saying that those projects should not move forward, what I am saying is lets find a way to improve our city by helping the residents that live within the the city while attracting new residents rather than trying to move out the poor and lower middle class in favor of those that are rich. We can be sensitive to those in need and that our less fortunate than us and still move Cincinnati forward with redevelopment.

This is why I favor of Smart-Growth Policy’s and Form-based Codes when it comes to neighborhood redevelopment. This isn’t some new government program that wastes millions of dollars a year on programs to win the vote of a particular block of voters. This is plan that encourages mixed use and mixed income growth. It promotes such ideas as having a livable walker friendly neighborhood that can support business growth for customers of all income levels. It also supports the idea of a viable public transportation system that is accessible and user friendly to all types of people for all types of uses.

I know it seems unusual for a Conservative to even want to bring up this issue especially when it comes running for Cincinnati City Council. Usually Conservatives want to scream we need more police and more jails to solve our crime problem. While I agree that we need more jail space, I do not believe that more police or jail space is the only answer. Raising taxes to solve this problem or adding more wasteful government spending is not the answer either. City Council needs to address the socio-economic issues while promoting growth instead of just promoting growth. We as a city cannot continually forgot about our poor for the sake of growth and expect to become a first class city. The cities that are successful are the ones that have found that balance. When I am elected to Cincinnati City Council I will promote growth in infrastructure and in making public transportation adequate for all that live in Cincinnati while also working to give those that need it better opportunities to improve themselves and to succeed in Cincinnati.