With experience and knowledge a Councilmember gains wisdom. I have worked in City Hall since 1997, and entering into this term I am the 3rd most senior member of Council.
Since almost half of the City Council and the Mayor were new after the 2005 election, my experience became very important. Institutional memory is a valuable tool, especially in Cincinnati, where Councilmembers are elected every two years.
The two-year election cycles lead to many "new" ideas being retreads of old ideas. It leads to the questioning of many "old" ideas by people who were not around to see why things are the way they are. With experience and knowledge comes wisdom. During my four years on Council, plus my tenure as a Council staff member for Dwight Tillery and Paul Booth, over the last ten years, I have gained experience, and I have gained knowledge.
If Cincinnati is in a state of change, then why is it important to know about how things were done in the past? It is important because understanding the failures of the past can lead to success in the future. For example, in the past it has been a practice of Council to spend Cincinnati's savings if revenues do not come in as expected. This is a failure of policy, and it has been for some time. Eventually, the City is going to run out of savings, and this may happen very soon. Spending our savings does not help the City's financial situation, and it makes organizations dependent on us as a revenue provider. If we do not have the revenue, we cannot provide it. This was a past failure, and by preventing this practice now, we can ensure a future financial success.
Often, experience also leads to the strengthening of past successes. For example, the Cincinnati Planning Department was eliminated in the midst of the revision of our zoning code. This Department was a successful arm of City government, and it enabled the City to plan for long term land use- helping spur economic development and growth. Lately, there has been a movement to re-institute the Planning Department, and I support this movement because my institutional memory has shown me its necessity. One reason Kentucky has developed at the rate it has is because the entire Northern Kentucky region uses a comprehensive planning model to develop their zoning code. They know where and how they are going to grow into the future. Cincinnati made the short-sighted decision to eliminate that aspect, and I look forward to taking a leadership position as we strive to bring it back. A more recent example is the rules of Council, which existed the way they had in the past for a reason. When the new Council was elected in 2005, new members changed the rules, and the result has been the constant tweaking and violation of Council rules over the last two years.
In the next term, I look forward to continuing my years of experience to move the City in the right direction. Knowledge and experience can lead to wisdom, and I will keep using what I have learned to keep Cincinnati on the right track.
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