Candidate for
Council Member; City of Cincinnati

I am a member of Cincinnati City Council, and currently chairs council's Budget and Finance, Livable Communities, and Rules Committees, and the Subcommittee on Major Transportation and Infrastructure Projects. Since returning to council in 2007, I have focused on initiatives that are fundamental to building a strong Cincinnati and result in enhanced quality of life, a globally-competitive local economy, and smart management of city resources.

My Great Neighborhoods Initiative is using the best approaches from around the country to strengthen and revitalize Cincinnati's neighborhoods by giving communities innovative, new tools to protect neighborhood character while encouraging investment. I am working to develop a 21st century transportation system that reinforces walkable neighborhoods and increases investment in multi-modal transportation systems that accommodate public transportation, bicycles, and pedestrians. I have worked to insure that the I-75/Brent Spence Bridge project supports economic development in Cincinnati neighborhoods. I started the Homeless to Homes Initiative to take homeless men and women off the streets and help them become productive members of our community.

I was first elected to council in 1991, and served three terms as mayor from 1993-1999. After leaving office because of term limits, I went to Harvard University where she served as a fellow in the Institute of Politics, a Loeb Fellow in the Graduate School of Design, and a Malcolm Weiner Fellow in Social Policy at the Kennedy School of Government; in 2002 I earned a Masters degree in Public Administration. I returned to Cincinnati in 2004 and taught in the Masters of Public Administration program at Northern Kentucky University and served as Director of Public Leadership Initiatives until December 2007.

Prior to serving in elected office, I served as director of the Cincinnati office of Ohio Citizen Action, executive director of Women Helping Women, and the director of the Northern Kentucky Rape Crisis Center.

BACKGROUND

I grew up across the river from Cincinnati in the community of Erlanger, Kentucky. My parents settled in Erlanger after her father retired from the Air Force when Roxanne was seven years old. Prior to arriving in Kentucky, Roxanne had lived in Taiwan, Japan, and New Hampshire.

I attended grade school at St. Henry's Grade School in Erlanger, Kentucky and then attended Notre Dame Academy in Park Hills, Kentucky for high school. While at Notre Dame Academy, I excelled in public speaking and debate as a member of the school's chapter of the National Forensics League and was a member of the National Honor Society. I attended Thomas More College, majoring in history, and then attended the University of Cincinnati in the Department of Urban Planning and Design at the College of Design, Architecture, and Art.

Prior to serving in elective office, I served as the first Director of the Northern Kentucky Rape Crisis Center (1975-1977, now known as the Women's Crisis Center), the Executive Director of Women Helping Women (1977-1979, now known as the Hamilton County Rape Crisis and Abuse Center), owned a small business specializing in house painting and renovation, an Associate Director (1983-1985) and then Director (1985-1991) of the Cincinnati office of Ohio Citizen Action (formerly known as Ohio Public Interest Campaign). While director of Ohio Citizen Action's Cincinnati office, I worked with neighborhood groups and environmental organizations to pass the City of Cincinnati's air code, lobbied the city to establish the Office of Environmental Management, and advocated for the establishment of the city's recycling program. My office released an annual analysis of the Environmental Protection Agency's Toxic Release Inventory. I was a member of the Lower Price Hill Task Force, an effort to target the environmental causes of Lower Price Hill children's health problems.

CITY COUNCIL

I first ran for the nine-member at-large Cincinnati City Council in 1987. I placed 14th. I ran again in 1989 and placed 10th. I was elected in 1991.

In my first term on council, I served as chair of the Intergovernmental Affairs and Environment Committee. She promoted employee health and safety. I successfully advocated that the city adopt Occupational Health and Safety Administration standards for city workers and develop an effective loss prevention program. The almost immediate consequence was a 22% drop in employee injury and illness rates. I led the city's planning efforts to develop a long-term transportation policy that integrated mass transit, including light rail. I worked to establish the Toxic Sweep program that trained city inspectors to recognize threats from hazardous and toxic waste. In addition, I emphasized increased cooperation between the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County and organized regular meeting between my committee and the Hamilton County Commission on issues of shared concern. MAYOR

In 1993, I became Mayor of the City of Cincinnati by achieving the highest number of votes of any council member. Cincinnati's voters returned me to the Mayor's office in 1995 and in 1997 where I served until term limits forced me out of office.

As Mayor, I emphasized openness and accessibility, collaborative public-private partnerships, and community and economic development.

Upon taking the office of Mayor in 1993, I established Mayor's Night In where every Tuesday evening for two hours anyone could come and see me about any issue or concern. I established the Mayor's Business Expansion and Retention Program and the Mayor's Business Breakfasts. Mayor's Night In and related constituency work reached out to over 5000 individuals and 240 businesses and resulted in legislative initiatives, constituency services, and jobs and business expansion and retention.

I emphasized partnerships with the communities and the private sector to achieve shared goals. The partnership with the Greater Cincinnati Home Builders Association resulted in Citirama, a center city home show that has created new neighborhoods and brought people back to the city. A partnership with the Board of Realtors produced the Ambassador program that familiarized real estate agents with the assets of Cincinnati so as to be better able to "sell" the city. The US Conference of Mayors recognized this program as a "Best Practice" in 2005. I established the Home Ownership Partnership, a coalition of over 32 lending institutions and community development organizations to improve Cincinnati's rate of home ownership.

Believing that successful community and economic development is built on a foundation of safety and security, I developed the Zero Tolerance Initiative: A Campaign to Take Back Our Neighborhoods, a comprehensive effort to combat blight and neighborhood deterioration. The US Conference of Mayors recognized it as a "Best Practice" in 1999. I initiated Cincinnati's suit against gun manufacturers for failing to incorporate safety features into guns and for facilitating the illegal distribution of guns. I supported the hiring of more police officers and the Community Oriented Policing (COP) program that took police officers out of cars and put them on the street in neighborhoods. And, I proposed the Permitting Drug Abuse ordinance to hold property owners responsible for knowingly permitting drug trafficking on their property.

Successful community and economic development also requires a willingness to invest in the physical, cultural, and social infrastructure of the city.

As Mayor and as a member of the Executive Committee and later as President of the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana-Regional Council of Governments, I oversaw the Major Investment Study that resulted in the significant redesign and reconfiguration of Fort Washington Way; and, I successfully lobbied for federal dollars to fund the region's light rail major investment study. With then County Commissioner, Bob Bedinghaus and members of City Council, I helped form the joint City-County Planning Committee to develop the Master Plan for Cincinnati's Central Riverfront and to determine the location of the two stadiums. In 1998, I insured the expansion of the city's premier riverfront park system by working with council to insure that money was budgeted for the construction of the Theodore Barry International Friendship Park.

I was one of three founders of Artworks, a youth employment program that teaches young people work skills by producing public art. I supported the construction of the internationally recognized Contemporary Arts Center, the Aronoff Performing Arts Center, and the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, and supported funding of small arts organizations.

I was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress in 1998. When she completed her last term in office, I pursued her dual passions of policy and urban design and planning. I served as a Fellow in the Institute of Politics at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government (Spring 2000); She was a 2001 member of the Loeb Fellowshipat Harvard's Graduate School of Design; and she graduated in 2002 from the Kennedy School with a Master's in Public Administration.

Ibecame a Visiting Professor at Northern Kentucky University in 2004 where I taught in the Master of Public Administration Program. In 2005, I became Director of NKU's Public Leadership Initiatives. I left NKU at the end of 2007. AWARDS AND HONORS

Post-Corbett Award Special Award in Arts Education for ARTWORKS, 1997 National Homebuilders Association, Public Official of the Year, Region C, 1997 Project Interchange Seminars in Israel, American Jewish Committee, Women Leaders Exchange, 1997 Honorary Doctorate, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, 1996 Ohio Public Employees Lawyers Association, Award for Outstanding Service, 1996 National Association of Social Workers, State and Cincinnati Region, Public Official of the Year 1996 YWCA, Women of Achievement Award, 1994 Cincinnati Women's Political Caucus, Outstanding Achievement Award, 1994 Soroptimist Club, Making a Difference for Women, award, 1993 Girl Scouts Great Rivers Council Woman of Distinction, 1992