Platform for City Council

By Eve Bolton

NEIGHBORHOODS WE CAN LIVE IN Enforce Section 8 housing standards, respond to neighborhood initiatives such as speedbumps and crosswalks, increase street sweeping and graffiti removal, rehabilitate or remove vacant housing, convene quarterly convention of community councils, encourage neighborhood greenspaces and sporting fields.

A BETTER WAY TO GOVERN Insist on City/County cooperation, improve Council's accountability by making 5 seats district-based and 4 at-large seats, reduce Council salaries, renegotiate MSD contract, institute open and fair bidding on all city contracts, unify purchasing among all governmental units to reduce costs, reduce personnel, flatten bureaucracy, and be willing to shrink revenue through tax incentives over 6 years in order to build a larger revenue base.

CINCINNATI AS A CENTER OF LITERACY AND LEARNING Use new schools as community learning centers, rely on local universities for research and consulting needs, offer GED programs in Recreation Centers, increase Wi-Fi accessibility, provide City assistance to increase access to libraries, provide Reading First programs at after-school care, establish mayoral liaison for all schools.

A CITY WHERE WE CAN DO BUSINESS AND FORGE NEW DEVELOPMENT FOR ALL CINCINNATIANS Provide more tax incentives to owner-operated businesses, expand the Port Authority's powers, develop brownfields, guarantee police presence for neighborhood business districts during business hours, fully staff the Planning Department.

INVESTING IN OUR CHILDREN'S HEALTH AND THE SECURITY OF OUR ELDERS Give tax credits to small businesses that offer health insurance to employees, increase availability of school nurses, offer tax incentives to RNs who reside in the City, work with the County and Cincinnati's vast health establishment to reduce infant mortality rate, enforce air quality laws, add 1 paramedic unit to city force, establish an elder hotline, seek and accept all government grants for narrowing the health gap.

CAPITAL INVESTMENTS FOR THE FUTURE OF CINCINNATI Build a regional First Responders' training center, City should purchase Metro and encourage the building of streetcar lines, east-west bus routes and transit hubs, and a larger and more modern bus fleet with wi-fi accessibility, eliminate zone-based fares, create a citylength riverfront pedestrian and bike trail, reinvest in parks & recreation.