League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area Education Fund
Hamilton County, OH November 3, 2009 Election
	Kevin Flynn Answers Questions Candidate for Council Member; City of Cincinnati

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? (50 word limit)

My love of Cincinnati; my desire to serve Cincinnati and give something back to our city; and my ability to use my unique blend of Knowledge, Experience, Innovative Solutions, and Perseverance to bring Fresh Ideas to turn the extreme challenges facing Cincinnati into opportunities to move Cincinnati forward.

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

Public Safety - Job #1. Our citizens, workforce, and visitors must be safe. Support the police and fire fighters who place their lives on the line for us every day. Build trust and a dialogue within our community. Budget - The `crisis' Cincinnati is facing was a decade in the making. Look at entire budget. Immediately we must eliminate all expenditures that are not moving Cincinnati forward and eliminate all unnecessary and/or unfilled positions. Grow revenue through development. Reduce expenses through sharing services, both internally and externally. Economic Development + Partner with the private sector, not dictate to the private sector.

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)

Work together; Exchange ideas; Listen; Work with the City Manager. Look at entire Budget, not just a part of it.
1. Put a moratorium on all expenditures unless the necessity is demonstrated (eliminate the 'use it or lose it' mentality.) Verify successes and failures of each department. Any expenditures, any inefficiencies, any personnel, that are not essential to moving the city forward must be cut. Expand the sharing of services, personnel, and functions between departments and between jurisdictions.
2. Invest city resources in projects that will provide direct economic benefit to the city through enhanced tax revenue.

4. What steps should the local government take to ensure that the quality of rental property meets minimum legal standards? (100 word limit)

Streamline the inspection process. Centralize inspections in one department, instead of the five current city departments. Allow code violations to be cited by police when observed in the performance of their other duties. Automate the complaint process so that available technology can assist communication between city and citizen.

Simplify the process of moving from complaint to prosecution. Promptly enforce the existing laws. City ordinances and state statutes exist to protect the public (both tenants and neighbors) from substandard rental housing. Utilize the available legal tools to stop the problem early, before it gets out of hand.

5. What actions should Cincinnati take to ensure a range of housing choices for residents, including affordable housing? (100 word limit)

Cincinnati is making great strides forward in assuring that housing revitalization increases in our city, allowing our city to continue to be reclaimed through redevelopment without displacement. The city is doing a good job when it is working through qualified non profit entities such as 3CDC; Working in Neighborhoods; and Price Hill Will, to partner with the private sector to rebuild viable projects. The city does a poor job when it tries to dictate to the private sector the type of project (beyond basic zoning laws) to be constructed in an area, based on political posturing rather than economic reality.

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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.

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

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 6, 2009 16:25
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