League of Women Voters of Ohio Education Fund
Hamilton County, OH November 8, 2005 Election
	Laketa Cole Answers Questions Candidate for Council Member; City of Cincinnati

Questions & Answers

1. What are your Qualifications for Office? (50 word limit)

Before serving on City Council, I worked at City Hall as an Aide. I am the Chair of the Neighborhoods Committee, and Vice Chair of the Law Committee and Community Development Committee. I am the only female incumbent running for City Council.

2. What plans do you have to address your top three priorities? (100 word limit)

I will encourage growth though strategic investment in jobs, housing and transportation. Cincinnati must have a long term vision. We cannot afford to make decisions on a piecemeal basis to solve our city's problems as they arise.

To increase homeownership, I will leverage the Community Reinvestment Act to increase low interest loans to first time homeowners. During my current term, I established a one-stop housing center and fought corrupt landlords.
My Crime Plan calls for reassigning of officers to walking shifts as part of their regular detail; performance measures focusing on aggregate crime reduction by neighborhood; and increased police-community partnerships.

3. What steps would you take to ensure that all public facilities are accessible to people with disabilities? (100 words limit)

Disability accommodation is an issue that is often overlooked. As an Aide, I spearheaded the redesign of the City Hall basement to make it more accessible to disabled people. I also spearheaded the placement of more handicapped parking spaces at City Hall, and the closed captioning of Council meetings on Citicable. As a Councilmember, I also will work to ensure that all current public buildings in Cincinnati are ADA accessible, and that all future buildings will be.

4. What specific steps will you take to expand recycling services in your community? (100 words limit)

Recycling not only helps the environment, it saves money and resources. In fact, the overall cost of abandoning recycling will prove to be higher in the long term. As a Councilmember, I took the initiative to create an education campaign about the benefits of recycling, so that more citizens can participate. I will also work to continue to fund weekly recycling pickup by the Department of Public Services for Cincinnati residents.

5. What steps would you take to provide affordable housing for all residents of your community? (100 words limit)

I will support any initiative to enable our citizens to own their own affordable home. During my tenure on Council, I worked with the Committee on Reinvestment to further leverage the Community Reinvestment Act in order to provide reliable low interest loans to city residents looking buy their first house. Also, our new zoning code that I spearheaded, calls for more single family housing units. During my tenure, I sponsored legislation to create a one-stop shop for housing and to crack down on predatory leasing. Everyone should have a decent, clean, and affordable house.