Candidate for
Member of Council; City of Cincinnati

My political philosophy can be found by gazing up at any of the numerous Cincinnati City flags that fly over our Queen City - Juncta Juvant, or "Unity Assists." These two words that our City's founding mothers & fathers chose as the guiding principle of Cincinnati still ring as true & profound to me as they did in 1895. I believe in a Community of Individuals working together to create true economic inclusion in a City that has all of the potential to become a national model for a mixed-income reality. Cincinnati has a history of embracing those who have been disenfranchised and tapping into the talents of Her citizens to create a progressive & equitable place to live. Sadly, in the past couple of decades, the guiding principle of Unity Assists has been lost. I intend to bring it back. I intend to create guiding coalitions of ALL our citizens to take Cincinnati toward the future for which She was destined.

My philosophy is simple - we need human services as much as we need big business, we need safety and protection as much as we need proactive job training centers, we need fiscal responsibility as much as we need the courage to fund organizations that work to better the City for the 50% of children that live below the Federal poverty line, and we need to realize that we are neighbors in our Ohio River Valley Town & that our voice is stronger when used in unison with those around us.

My philosophy, in addition to Unity Assists, can be captured in a phrase that I have used to guide me professionally for 12 years: Economic Morality. We need to realize that working with those that are struggling will have a profound impact on all businesses' bottom line, and ease the burden of the tax payer. The more people in prison, the less people working & participating in the economy.

The job of municipal government, in my mind, is twofold:

1) Promote the Common Good. 2) Provide services for people that they otherwise could not provide for themselves.

By rethinking number 2, we will achieve number 1 - that is to say that many in Cincinnati cannot provide even the most basic services for themselves because they were never taught how to be a productive member of society. For my wife & me a basic service may be police protection and garbage collection. For one of my mentally ill, drug-addicted friends in the Drop Inn Center, a basic service may be a reputable clinic in which to get clean. If we do not make working with our low-income brothers & sisters a priority in our City, then job retention and attraction is a conversation that can never happen. We need to look at development inclusively, and through an Economically Moral lens.