League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area Education Fund
	Hamilton County, OH November 3, 2009 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Council Member; Village of Newtown

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on Qualification, Priorities, Economic, Rental property Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. What are your Qualifications for Office? (50 word limit) Answer from Debbie McCarthy: 1. Newtown Councilperson 2004-2008 2. Newtown Fire Board, 2003-2005 3. Member of Planning, Zoning and Development(Chairperson) 2003-current 4. Newtown Civic League, 2008-current 5. Newtown Village resident since 1998 Answer from Joe Harten: I have lived in Newtown since 2001, and have served on the Planning Commission since 2005. In 2008, I served on the Citizens Finance Committee to explore ways to address Village budget issues. I understand local government through my experience consulting with jurisdictions across the country. 2. What plans do you have to address your top three priorities? (100 word limit) Answer from Joe Harten: I will work with other members of Council and Village staff to bring a more thoughtful approach to Village issues. Many Council controversies over the past several years could have been mitigated or avoided by obtaining more input from residents and businesses, and by spending more time in research and preparation before rushing to pass a resolution. In addition, I intend to explore all opportunities to share services and responsibilities with other local jurisdictions; Newtown does not have the resources to be completely self-sufficient in every area. Answer from Debbie McCarthy: Balanced Budget: I will work with other council members to develop a plan to maintain a balanced budget. This plan will identify scenarios and the actions to be taken to maintain a balanced budget under these scenarios. This approach will allow residents to anticipate any actions that would need to be taken to control expenses. Conservative spending / Economic growth: These actions go hand in hand. Spending must be offset by an increase in tax revenues without new levies. I will need to continue to recruit entrepreneurs to invest in the commercial zones of the Village. 3. What two actions would you promote to enhance city revenue or decrease city expenditures in order to balance the city budget, given the current economic conditions? (100 word limit) Answer from Joe Harten: 1) explore opportunities to join together with other jurisdictions to provide necessary services 2) promote Newtown's location and demographics to attract businesses to the area Answer from Debbie McCarthy: As described above, the two key initiatives are the balanced budget plan and the expense control / revenue growth initiative. 4. What steps should the local government take to ensure that the quality of rental property meets minimum legal standards? (100 word limit) Answer from Debbie McCarthy: Newtown has already budgeted for a resource to ensure that the exterior of any property in Newtown complies with existing ordinances that deal with property maintenance issues. Issues with the landlord + renter interior property maintenance and conditions are addressed by state law, local building codes and by local ordinances. I will take action to ensure that renters and landlords are aware of their legal requirements by ensuring that the relevant information is published in the Newtown Village website. I will also work to ensure that any problems or complaints get properly routed to the Village's property maintenance inspector. Answer from Joe Harten: Happily, the quality of rental property in our Village is quite high. To maintain our strengths in this area, the Village should continue to support our building commissioner and law enforcement in following up on complaints with existing properties, and in enforcing codes and ordinances in the development of new properties. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. Word limits apply for each question. Direct references to opponents are not permitted. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.