League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area Education Fund
Hamilton County, OH November 8, 2011 Election
	Josh Berkowitz Answers Questions Candidate for Council Member; City of Norwood

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. What are your qualifications for office?

As as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney in the office of Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, making tough decisions is simply part of my job. I've handled all types of criminal cases, from minor misdemeanors to the most serious of felonies. Such work, like serving on City Council, demands a person that can work well with others in pursuit of a goal. I interract with a broad cross-section of the public including attorneys, judges, police, court personnel, expert witnesses, and victims of crime, and at the end of the day, I must make the difficult, quick decisions that will best serve the interest of justice in each case I am assigned.

2. What services do you believe should be considered basic and essential for the City?

The most basic service that local government must provide is for the safety and security of its citizens. Norwood must do what is necessary to maintain the top-notch police and fire departments that we are so fortunate to currently enjoy. Safety and security also include things like clean, paved streets, housing code inspections, and the Health Department.

The City's next priority must be to get out of the way of its citizens who create the wealth and economic development that drives our community. City government must make our community attractive to potential homebuyers, and those who would bring or start their business in Norwood. We can do this by lessening the burdens of regulation, promoting our city's outstanding resources, and spending the taxpayers' money more efficiently and effectively, so that folks know their leaders are handling their tax dollars responsibly.

3. How would you balance the City Budget?

Norwood, like almost all local governments, must adapt to the current economy by learning to do more with less. Like the families of our community, we must live within our means. We must make government more efficient and less costly. We can help accomplish this by listening to our city employees. They do the hard work every day, and will know what the city can do to help them do it even better and more efficiently.

But the key to balancing the budget is to get our economy growing again. We must aggressively encourage economic growth in order to raise tax revenue, without raising tax rates. That is, we must actively promote our community to attract new businesses and homebuyers to Norwood.

4. What actions will you take to support clean air?

In this day and age, economic growth is priority number one. Local governments everywhere, including Norwood, are facing a budget crisis, and one of the main contributors to that crisis is the duplication of services among different government entities. There are numerous federal and state agencies responsible for promoting cleaner air and protecting our environment. I certainly support these efforts.

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Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: November 1, 2011 10:37
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