League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area Education Fund
	Hamilton County, OH November 5, 2013 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Member Council; City of Cheviot; Ward 1

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 Qualifications, Basic Services, Budget, Citizen Engagement Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. What are your qualifications for office? Answer from Katherine Marie "Kate" Kinney: I am a lifelong resident of Cincinnati who, with my husband, Michael Kinney, purchased our home here in Cheviot more than 8 years ago. Our son attends third grade at Cheviot Elementary, where I volunteer two days every week. I am a graduate of UC with BA in Psychology, and served 1 year as an Americorps VISTA at Enright Ridge Urban Eco-Village in Price Hill in 2005. Most of the professional positions I have held have been Public Relations or Communications related. I will use the skills I have picked up through my work experiences to bring a positive public focus back to Cheviot. After all, I want everyone else to know what a great place Cheviot is to live and work in. 2. What services do you believe should be considered basic and essential for the City? Answer from Katherine Marie "Kate" Kinney: I believe that it is in the citizens' best interest for Cheviot to maintain its own Police, Fire, and Maintenance Departments. Having these services allows us to more quickly respond to emergencies, take better care of our residents, and provide superior service for the cost. 3. How would you balance the City Budget? Answer from Katherine Marie "Kate" Kinney: Balancing the budget is a very complicated prospect in the current economic climate, but I believe the best way to do this includes working with our local business and housing stock to market ourselves as a welcoming place to live and work. In addition to bringing in new residents and companies, I will review the city's expenses in order to determine better ways to spend the money we are bringing in. 4. Citizen engagement is important to the health of local government. In what ways do you support citizen engagement? Answer from Katherine Marie "Kate" Kinney: I'm running for office to bring transparency back to our local government. I want to make sure that the people of Cheviot know what's going on. Everyone should know that their representatives are actually looking out for the public's best interest and not just making decisions inside a vacuum. I will make sure that the city uses all means of technology available to get out information about what's going on as well as receive feedback, possibly including YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and G+. I also want to make it mandatory that each council member hold open-house events in their ward at a minimum of twice per year in order to more accurately determine what are the concerns of the voters and business owners they represent. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. Word limits may apply. See individual questions for specific word limits. Direct references to opponents are not permitted. Please edit your work before submitting. We are unable to provide spell-check at this time. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.