Candidate for
Council Member; City of Cincinnati

A More Compelling Vision for Cincinnati:

We are the Premier Midsize American City, a City of Character, & the Region's Economic, Cultural & Social Engine, a Gazelle City.

Values & Principles · Less is More When it Comes to Government · Identify & Build on Our Commonalities · Respect & Learn From Our Differences · Empower Individuals & Strengthen Neighborhoods

Less is More When it Comes to Government

Define Responsibility for Action to Ensure Accountability for Results

How often do you read in the newspapers, hear on the radio or watch on the television stories of City Council's & the Administration's seeming inability to get anything done? Too often. Mayor Charlie Luken himself says he "Has a hard time believing city council members are going to be more retiring in a new system," with a separately elected Strong Mayor. "The idea of a council being more focused on the 'big picture' is a nice idea, but I'm not sure it's going to happen."

I am asking you the voter to give me the opportunity to restore Mr. Luken's belief in the "deliberative body's" ability to deliver results.

Performance Objectives & Measures The 1999-2000 Budget references 11 Priority Goals & 29 Benchmarks established in 1996 by City Council; some have target completion dates, none indicate who is responsible for their achievement.

The 2001-2002 Budget lists 106 Objectives & 172 Measures for all City departments except the Clerk of Council, Safety Department, Department of General Services & the Office of Cable Communications. Conspicuous by their absence are Performance Objectives & Measures for the Office of the Mayor & City Council! While some Measures could be improved upon, at least they exist.

Job Descriptions Compounding the problem is the absence of Job Descriptions for Council members. Other than responsibilities defined in the City Charter & campaign promises, how are we to determine whether our elected officials have "done their jobs?"

I have drafted a Job Description for Council members indicating Responsibilities & Expectations. I firmly believe that council must be accountable to the electorate & will make it as easy as possible for you to evaluate my performance. Please review it & let me know your thoughts. This Job Description/Performance Evaluation Sheet will be used quarterly to "poll" constituents to ensure your needs are being met.

GOSPEL & the 100 Day Plan This Job Description will be executed within the context of a Balanced Scorecard approach I'm drafting for City Government. I call it "GOSPEL" for · G oals: translating a Vision into actionable themes against which to develop Measurable Outcomes & Effective Strategies. · O utcomes: a desired future state. · S trategies: integrated & coordinated set of commitments & actions designed to exploit core competencies & gain a sustainable competitive advantage. · P lans: translation of strategies into actionable steps affecting work Scope, Quality, Schedule & Cost. · E xecution: effecting change through Plan implementation & control. Includes Measures that are quantified units documenting the Effectiveness & Efficiency of plan execution. · L eadership: assigning accountability for the delivery of Outcome results & demonstrating excellence to establish new benchmarks (raising the bar). This is a comprehensive framework for organizing the work of Council & the Administration. It can be "drilled down" into by each department to ensure an appropriate level of detail. It organizes Departmental Objectives & Measures and aligns them with the products & services provided to constituents to make sure we're "Doing the Right Things Right." I have drafted a 100 Day Plan so the new Council will have a 'vertical startup,' hitting the ground running on Inauguration Day, without taking the month of December off. It uses the GOSPEL format to articulate Strategic Initiatives to effect our City's turnaround to a brighter future. Transparency of Process; Visibility of Results I will encourage using the following common business tools & methods to help taxpayers & voters know who is on first, what's on second & I don't know is NOT on third: · A single document in Committee & Council meetings that captures decisions made, actions taken, responsibilities assumed & dates committed (ideally this is an electronic projection, but a simple chart pad on an easel will do) · Defined Responsibility for getting work accomplished, defined Approval requirements, defined Constituencies to consult & defined Individuals to inform of work underway & decisions made · For each program & project, a documented schedule against which progress can be observed & a master schedule showing top level activities for each project & program · A documented cost estimate with Account Owners (those responsible not for spending the money but rather controlling it) with a spending curve showing the burn rate along a timeline. These estimates will also articulate the difference between Basic Scope, without which the project or program will not function as intended, and Discretionary Scope, which may enhance the desired outcome but is not required for startup. All of these documents will be available to the public on the Internet. Eliminate Non Value-adding Bureaucratic Methods & Costs Government should not be a jobs program; it exists only to provide those essential services which residents & taxpayers should not reasonably be expected to provide for themselves. These essential government services (recognizing they may be privately or quasi-privately provided) include: · Fire & Emergency Medical Services · Police protection · Criminal Justice · Infrastructure · Utilities & Sanitation · Natural environmental protection (air, water & land quality) · Built environmental protection (building & zoning codes) Additional beneficial services which might be provided based upon resource availability include: · Public education · Public health services · Public transportation modalities · Subsidized housing · Parks & recreation venues Providing these services necessarily requires the following: · Revenue source (s) · Intergovernmental relations · Intragovernmental cooperation · Support for private business & housing investment · Support for arts & culture Cincinnati has one employee for every 49 residents. Every aspect of City government must be re-evaluated & rationalized to minimize costs to the taxpayers & maximize the quality of services provided. Any task undertaken by a city employee which does not assist the private citizen in the lawful & proper conduct of his or her business represents wasted money. City employees must become passionate advocates for the citizenry & strive to make your lives as pleasant as possible. Automate & Make Self-Directing as Many Activities as Possible A potential client of mine wanted to build a small garage to service his tow truck. For a 20 foot by 20 foot building with a simple toilet room & heating, this would have required completing 19 forms & applications. The City maintains an army of individuals, good people one and all, who's jobs it is to hold their collective thumbs in the dike holding back a flood of paperwork. Consistent with streamlining local government, I will work to ensure the following: · Rationalizing government filing requirements · Making electronically available all required forms, reports & publications, ensuring that common information is entered once & applied to all forms, eliminating duplicate work by filers · Allowing electronic filing of forms & applications · Making documents requested by the public available online, reducing in-house printing costs · Allowing the electronic contribution of comments & questions to Committee & Council meetings, specifically to allow those who cannot travel to participate.

Strengthen Basic Services Cincinnati has an almost US$900,000,000 budget- approximately US$2,700 for each resident. Do you feel you receive that much in benefits each year? I will absolutely work to strengthen the level of basic services provided, increasing staffing where appropriate (beat officers & emergency medical technicians, for example) while minimizing the bureaucracy & number of staff roles required to manage paper-based processes. I believe our city's heritage & unique geographical features require additional investment & recapture, & I will work to improve the Quality of Life enjoyed by residents & workers by rehabilitating walks, steps & streets, maintaining our hillsides & rights of way and reducing litter, blight & eyesores. We must continue to manage our natural resource quality & develop cost-effective transportation solutions and encourage alternative work-life relationships. Identify & Build on Our Commonalities We are Americans We may not all have been born in America, but by and large we remain here by choice. American citizens enjoy rights & privileges envied the world over, but with these come responsibilities we cannot shirk. We must all be active participants in our civilized society, respectful of the individual as the foundation for respect of the group. We are Ohioans As landed Americans, we can freely choose between residency in any of the 50 states & the District of Columbia. We may plan to relocate in the future, but until then we are Ohioans & are obligated to present the best face possible to the country & the world. From the heartland we enjoy a wealth of opportunities we should not take for granted. Let's continue to demonstrate our essential good nature & become the standard by which other states are judged. We are Cincinnatians Cincinnati is an incredibly diverse city, the fifty-fourth most populous in the country. As long as we choose to live here we are each obligated to contribute to its success, contributing more than we withdraw, the proverbial "Ask not what your city can do for you, but rather, what you can do for your city." We are coworkers, neighbors, friends & fellows. Our history is not blemish-free, but we must remain committed to ensuring a better, brighter future for ourselves & those who follow. We must be forward thinking while respecting the past. Cincinnati, is has been said, is behind the times. I don't know about that, but I do think we would benefit from a little more "prairie-dogging," poking our heads up over the hills surrounding our city to see what "the next guy" is doing. Respect & Learn From Our Differences We are Individuals There are well over six billion people in the world now. The individual who will discover a cure for cancer is out there, as is the next wannabe dictator. We are not homogenous demographic 'blocs,' although our differences do sometimes find affinity in others. We must encourage respect for all individuals as equals and eliminate the class barriers to progress & success. At the same time, in order to respect & preserve our freedoms, we must administer codes of conduct & levy consequences for behaviors which are not respectful of individual liberties and which seek to gain at the expense of others. We must respect freedom of association and, in fact, learn from it. The promise of diversity is not the establishing of quotas or set-asides, but the downfall of barriers to progress & success erected to protect ignorance & misunderstanding. We are Human When I hear of a particularly egregious act by someone against another, it is often described as "animalistic" behavior. These behaviors, however, are almost exclusively human.

We must never consider others beneath us or less than fully human. If an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, we must get beyond the temptation to await tragedies that allow us to pontificate to the media on the horror of it all. We must intercede before the fact, work to eliminate the potential for misunderstanding & harm, and resist the urge to name call when problem diagnosis is more appropriate. As our friends afar might say, "Fix the problem, not the blame." We are Sons & Daughters, Mothers & Fathers, Brothers & Sisters When we look at others, do we see strangers or friends? Do we see the causes of our problems or their potential solutions? Do we look for blame or credit? Do we project our misery so others may suffer our fates, or share our learnings to prevent their repeat?

It might not "take a village," but it definitely takes a parent. Human life began long ago on a far away continent; we are all descendants of the same archetypal parents. Let's assume the best in each other, believing in our innate goodness, and like the apocryphal Indians, consider the consequences of our actions seven generations hence. Empower Individuals & Strengthen Neighborhoods Welcome to Cincinnati, May I Help You? Cincinnatians are an overwhelmingly gracious & polite people- we offer what may be termed "Northern Hospitality!" Our colloquial expression "please?" which substitutes for the more commonly used "excuse me?" or "huh?" is a nationally recognized symbol of our basic decency. Our city has had its troubles recently and, in fact, throughout its history. But treating each of us with dignity & respect, as individuals both in public & in private, will go a long way towards healing our rifts. Our city now has CNAS (Cincinnati Neighborhood Action Strategy) Teams & Community Councils for each neighborhood. City Council must increase its outreach to these committed citizens, learn more about & understand better the needs of our neighbors & their neighborhoods, & make government as accessible & customer-friendly as possible. By understanding our city as a system, or network, of neighborhoods, grouped by CNAS and served by Fire & Police Districts, Council can more appropriately & the Administration can more effectively, target needed services to strengthen the neighborhoods of which the city consists. Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way Mark Twain is famously referred to for saying that if he knew the world were ending tomorrow, he'd go to Cincinnati as everything here happens 10 years later! While the country as a whole enjoyed the longest economic expansion in the nation's history, I do not see Cincinnati achieving commensurate gains. Of late, our elected officials and, to some extent, our electorate, exhibit what some call "psychological inertia." Others may call it "fear of change" or "apathy." My belief is we've simply failed to take advantage of latent opportunities and unleash the creative & productive capabilities of our friends & neighbors.

City Council and, beginning this year, the separately elected Strong Mayor, have an absolute responsibility to set not only the tone & tenor of discourse in our city but also to craft a resounding Vision and a Plan for realizing it. It will require the positive contribution of all our citizens if we are to reverse the trends of decline, decay and, based upon the 2000 Census, departing of our homeowners.

Healthy skepticism & constructive criticism by the electorate will remain vital to this work; but those who believe in the tyranny of the status quo, who earn their way by holding others back, who prefer style over substance and rhetoric over action no longer have a place in our City Government! As Ayn Rand once wrote, "Ideas without Actions are Contemptible Hypocrisy."