League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area Education Fund
Hamilton County, OH November 3, 2009 Election
	Wendell Young Answers Questions Candidate for Council Member; City of Cincinnati

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. What are your Qualifications for Office? (50 word limit)

I have a life-time of service to Cincinnati. Life-long Cincinnati resident with 38 years of public service to Cincinnati including 25 years as a Cincinnati Police Officer and 13 years in city administration and supervision. Taught high school for 2 years. Very active in community organizations and politics.

2. What plans do you have to address your top three priorities? (100 word limit)

I will work to balance the budget without taking money from school children, taxing the homeless, or breaking promises to retirees. I believe in fiscal responsibility that preserves services Cincinnatians expect their dollars to provide.

I will work to keep thriving neighborhoods viable and use incentives to spur development in underserved neighborhoods, thereby creating businesses and jobs, and curbing the environment for crime and blight.

I will work to preserve and improve the quality of our air, soil, and water, by supporting Green Technology and Initiatives.

3. What two actions would you promote to enhance city revenue or decrease city expenditures in order to balance the city budget, given the current economic conditions? (100 word limit)

One method I want to explore for increasing city revenue is the feasibility of bottling and selling Cincinnati water. This would also create jobs in marketing, sales, distribution, and more.

I also want to explore possible savings on our safety budget by dismissing old misdemeanor cases that cannot be effectively prosecuted, repealing unnecessary/ineffective ordinances, and looking into more ways to free police officers from duties that prevent them from fighting crime, thereby putting more police officers on the streets without increasing the burden on taxpayers.

4. What steps should the local government take to ensure that the quality of rental property meets minimum legal standards? (100 word limit)

Continue and improve the partnership between city council and the realtor associations to find agreed upon methods for meeting the standards. This partnership needs to include representation from renters as well and neighborhoods. The city should monitor the quality and safety of rental housing through inspections and complaint monitoring.

I do not see a need for more ordinances. Enforcing the ordinances already on the books is sufficient. I would work with the owners of problem properties and prosecute those who will not keep their properties up.

5. What actions should Cincinnati take to ensure a range of housing choices for residents, including affordable housing? (100 word limit)

My definition of affordable housing includes housing for a mix of income levels from young professionals to empty nesters, as well as low income people. I think Cincinnati should work with realtors, community councils, and interested citizens, to decentralize affordable housing and foster opportunities for new and old residents to find ways to live and work together for neighborhood preservation and improvement. No neighborhood should become the repository for all affordable housing. A critical component for success is that properties be maintained as safe, healthy, and neat.

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Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. Word limits apply for each question. Direct references to opponents are not permitted.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: October 22, 2009 17:12
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