Opportunity:
We can increase opportunity for our youth and for those living in poverty. The recent elimination of our summer jobs program sent a message to many of our youth that their needs are not valued. The value of a summer or year round job can create dignity, pride of accomplishment and mean the difference between success and failure for many of our youth. Youth must be seen as assets rather that problems and their gifts should be realized as an integral part of community and civic life. We must increase Opportunities for our youth. Additionally, we must increase opportunities for those living in poverty, now approximately one out of three Cincinnatians. We can accomplish this by making poverty reduction funding a priority during our budget deliberations. We should choose to fund, as an example, funding for small neighborhood businesses. The capital will funnel back into the neighborhood to further enhance the economy of the community. Another example of how we can increase opportunity is allowing local people to improve our infrastructure. Many of our road and sidewalk crews come from out of town. Cincinnati residents should be performing this work, thus improving our local economy.

Neighborhoods: Community Economic Development.
First among my priorities is Community Economic Development. This would include
funding for local communities to help foster small business start ups. Community Economic Development differs from plain economic development in that it involves the community on a deeper level. In Community Economic Development neighborhood residents are trained and employed, residents create the plan and the community is deeply changed from the inside out. Through Community Economic Development the neighborhoods’ prosperity level is increased through an increase in employment; - resulting in a reduction of crime and a more “livable” neighborhood. Another component of Community Economic Development is the Model Zone centered within each neighborhood. Model Zones are success zones located in and around the community business district in which City Investment is concentrated and which spawns further improvements in the surrounding area. The “Place Matters” concept being developed by the Community Building Institute and United Way for Avondale is an example of this concept.

Equality
Just a few years ago, people began speaking of racial harmony within our city. The discussion of racial harmony was virtually a constant ideation. However, just a few years later these discussions have been lost in the dust of our new mantra, that of reducing crime and increasing downtown development. We must return to the discussion of racial equality and economic inclusion. The banks project provides the perfect opportunity for our City to reaffirm it’s commitment to racial and economic equality. We must have full economic and racial Inclusion on the Banks Project. The passage of Article XII was a step in the right direction for Cincinnati in its quest for further Equality of all people, everyone wants equality, and after all it’s only fair.
Had we addressed in a more relevant and effective way the racial discontent / racial disparities, I feel that we would have seen an natural reduction in crime and that we would be more free to address our urban core development. Crime can be effectively reduced through the addressing of the root causes of crime. We must do what it takes to eliminate crime before it happens by supporting people before they turn to criminal life. The jail population can be determined by a population’s 4th grade literacy rate Therefore, both high quality education coupled with increasing opportunities for economic advancement through living wage jobs can serve to reduce crime.

These are the three most crucial elements to making Cincinnati a livable, vibrant city.