League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area Education Fund
	Hamilton County, OH November 5, 2013 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Member of Council; Village of Lincoln Heights

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 Basic Services, Budget, Citizen Engagement Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. What services do you believe should be considered basic and essential for the Village? Answer from D. O. Stephens: The services that are basic and essential for the Village are the street maintainance, police and fire and the Village manager, clerk of courts and administrative entities of the like. 2. How would you balance the Village Budget? Answer from D. O. Stephens: The Village budget is out of balance because of a lack of cash flow. The only way to cure a shortfall of dollars is to increase the revenue. There needs to be increased enforcement of the current taxations and ordinances that are revenue generators and currently in place for residents. Additionally a concerted effort to attract new "for profit" businesses to add to the tax base. 3. Citizen engagement is important to the health of local government. In what ways do you support citizen engagement? Answer from D. O. Stephens: My conversations with any resident that I come in contact with start and end with encouraging them to get involved in anyway possible: be it volunteering on the committee for Lincoln Heights Days or attending scheduled council meetings to ensure that their voice is heard. Another way is through informing the citizens of their value to the community and its success which is why one of my goals if elected is to begin and distribute a community newsletter. 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.