League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area Education Fund
	Hamilton County, OH November 6, 2012 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Treasurer; County of Hamilton

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, Implementation, Pressing issues, Addressing issues Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. What are your qualifications for office? (50 Word limit) Answer from Robert A. Goering: My first job out of high school was opening mail in the Hamilton County Treasurer's Office. I have held almost every position in the office including Chief Investment Officer. The Treasurer oversees the collection and safekeeping of taxpayer funds, and I have a vast amount of experience in this field. Answer from Jeff Cramerding: I have been active in housing issues in Hamilton County, including my neighborhood of Price Hill. I was a member of the Multi-Neighborhood Housing Task Force and a founding board member of Price Hill Will, one of Hamilton County's most successful community development corporations. 2. What plans do you have to address your top three priorities? (100 word limit) Answer from Robert A. Goering: I have continued to be a good steward of taxpayer funds. I have cut the general fund budget by over 35% and have continued to be responsive to taxpayer needs. I have instituted policies that are revenue gainers for the office, and thus do not use our limited resources. I have also formed the County's very first Land Bank and have set up Tax Lien sales to speed collection of delinquent taxes. I have been President of the Hamilton County Board of Revision, President of the Hamilton County Budget Commission and the Hamilton County Investment Advisory Committee. Answer from Jeff Cramerding: I have signed a contract with Hamilton County voters to: 1) Demand fulltime work for fulltime pay for all employees, including the treasurer. 2) Hire and promote county employees based on merit, not contributions to a candidate or political party. 3) Prohibit nepotism or the preferential hiring or promotion based on family connections. 3. What are the two most pressing issues you will face if you are elected? (100 word limit) Answer from Jeff Cramerding: Eliminating blight and revitalizing neighborhoods. Keeping people in their homes and preventing foreclosures. Answer from Robert A. Goering: 1. Everyone is struggling with tight budgets. This is true for individual and for governments. We have handled this issue in the Hamilton County Treasurers office in the past, and will continue to be good stewards of taxpayer funds. 2. Safety of fudiciary funds is critical especially in a low interest rate environment. The Treasurers Office collects over 1.2 billion dollars every year, and these funds must be handled responsibly, and by an experienced office holder. 4. How will you address each of those issues? (100 word limit) Answer from Jeff Cramerding: I have traveled across the state witnessing the innovative programs being implemented by other treasurers. Other treasurers are spearheading programs to keep people in their homes and prevent foreclosures. Other treasurers are aggressively redeveloping abandoned properties and eliminating blight. Hamilton County is either not using these programs or is far behind in their implementation. The reason is that other county treasurers treat their position as a full-time job. Our current treasurer treats the position as a part-time job. Answer from Robert A. Goering: My top priority is to continue with programs that serve the taxpayers without expanding the cost of government. We have created a new program to sell tax liens, enabling us to collect delinquencies a bit faster, and have the collectors pay the cost of the program. This does more for our citizens without expanding bureaucracy. Several County Treasurers in Ohio have suffered loss of fiduciary funds. Cuyahoga County loss of approximately $115 million, Portage County $5 million and Sandusky County $1.5 million. I was previously the Chief Investment Officer of Hamilton County, and our losses are $0. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. Answers will be cut off if they exceed a word limit, if present. Direct references to opponents are not permitted. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.