Candidate for
Mayor; City of Cincinnati

I am a member of Cincinnati City Council and the current Vice Mayor. I currently chair council's Budget and Finance and Livable Communities 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 led the effort to reform the city's lead abatement program, including new prevention strategies to protect children, and 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 I 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.

I am the recipient of numerous awards and have also served on the boards of many of the region's organizations.