My Goals If Elected.

By Ryan T. Zech

A brief description of my plans if elected to Council.

Our Building Department is stretched too thin. The City of Cheviot needs to find ways to increase hours for this department. The codes need to be reviewed and then enforced in a consistent manor. I propose establishing a citizen's committee, which would be advised of the City's building codes and then would be given the task of looking for violations. This committee would send notice to property owners explaining violations and what repairs would be needed. If the problem is not resolved within a reasonable amount of time, the committee can refer the complaint to the Building Department for follow up and possible citation. This committee would not be able to levy fines or citations; they could only send letters of recommendation. Creating a citizens committee would free up time for the Building Department since the building inspectors would not have to spend significant amount of time walking around the City. The Building Department would have more time to handle construction inspection, business district inspections, and following up on issued citations. The creation of this committee would also create goodwill between the City of Cheviot and the residents. Instead of receiving a citation and monetary fine from the Building Department, the resident in violation would be given a chance to repair the problem without fine. Finally, the City needs to strengthen regulations on rental properties and to inspect them to be sure that codes are met. By establishing a citizens committee, the building inspectors would have more time to inspect rental properties to make sure that these meet minimum codes for the renters to be sure that these properties are safe.

The City needs to focus on the business district. A thriving business district helps keep property values up and helps deter crime. In addition, a strong business district gives the City an identity, which in turn can help bring in new residents who are interested in owning a home near that district. Many of the businesses here have done a tremendous job in the up-keep of their shops, but there are some things that the City can do to improve the looks of the district. I would like to see unique signage in the business district. I think the possibility of gaslights or some other form of street lamps to help differentiate the business district from others in the area would be a good start. In addition, I believe that Cheviot needs to work with Cinergy, Cincinnati Bell, and the other utility companies that use above ground wiring to attempt to clean up the skyline of the city. The removal of un-necessary wires, or the relocation of them would drastically improve the looks. A streetscape project would be my ideal target, but any improvements that can be made would be worthwhile.

I think that Cheviot needs to look into additional grants, donations, and alternate funding for projects. The notion of hiring a grant writer is a good one, pending that the City of Cheviot can afford an expense like this. Additional grants and donations can help the city repair more roads, work on special projects, and improve its services. Recently the City was able to construct a new picnic shelter at the Cheviot Fieldhouse using donated money and I would like to see additional projects with donated funds like this one.

Cheviot is a great community to start and raise a family. The City needs get younger families established in the city and then we need to work on ways to keep them here. This needs to be done in a way that allows us to honor our aging, because they are a vital part of what makes up Cheviot, but at the same time young families keep the City active. A better business district would help in this matter.

I believe that listening to a person's problem is important to making the City of Cheviot better. I hope to have better communication with the residents of Ward One. I plan to start a website for the voters in my ward to give their input on matters that pertain to Cheviot.

Finally, I love the parks in Cheviot and I want to preserve and improve them. New guard rails, better signage, more trees and flowers will make them even better than before. These items need to be presented to organizations and/or companies to keep the City's expenses in line and to increase community involvement.