There are more than two dozen candidates running for Cincinnati City Council. Can you name them all? More importantly, what are their positions?
Over the next two weeks on Cincinnati Edition, we’ve invited all of the candidates on the show.
Up first:
- Dawn Johnson
- Gary Favors
A transcript of this conversation is below.
This episode was transcribed using a combination of AI speech recognition and human editors and has been lightly edited for clarity. It may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print.
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Host: This is Cincinnati Edition on wvxu. I'm Nick Swartsell, filling in for Lucy May. The first in our two week series of candidate interviews is Dawn Johnson. She's North Avondale neighborhood association president and is endorsed by the Charter committee. Ms. Johnson, welcome to the program. Dawn in a few sentences, just kind of give us a little introduction of yourself and why you're running for for council.
Dawn Johnson: Yeah. So first and foremost, I'm a lifelong Cincinnatian, I'm a mom, I'm a doula, and like you mentioned, I am the only candidate out of all 26 candidates that is currently a president of my community council in North Avondale.
Host: So I want to dive right into some issues here. And the first one I want to talk about is something I think you're familiar with. Council has faced some accusations of not listening to the community on issues like the Connected Communities zoning reform in 2024 and the Hyde Park Square development in 2025. As a member of city council, how would you balance community input with the desire to add housing? I know that you've kind of addressed some of this in North Avenue.
Dawn Johnson: Yes, I have. You know, we need to repeal and replace connected communities. First and foremost, people are frustrated. They feel ignored. And you know, it's really just about, you know, listening to the people and not and not having the development happening around them and to them. It should be happening with them. So, you know, the community engagement with the Connected Communities. For example, it was very poor people did not feel like they were heard. They had us writing on post its. Where are the post its, you know? How can we really measure, you know, what we've said and what we've wanted on a post? It like, how do we know that they listened, you know? And clearly they didn't, because they passed it. So, you know, it's having better engagement, very intentional engagement, that where people feel heard.
Host: Yeah, briefly, what does that look like to you? What does a different kind of engagement look
Dawn Johnson: It's coming to the Community Council meetings. It's having a discussion with us. Hey, we have a new development. You know, we have a new partner in the neighborhood. I'm going to use the renting partnerships. For example, because I love them renting partnerships they want to have, you know, they want to develop a new apartment in North Avondale. How do you guys feel about it? What are your needs like? What are some things that you are concerned about with a development like this, and just asking us questions, asking about our feedback, and not looking at that as a problem, or like it's something that's holding you us back. You know, it's just important to talk to the people who have to live and work in a space where there's new developments. I mean, it's just, it's only fair.
Host: In this last term, the mayor and city council seats have all been held by Democrats. How do you think this dynamic has played out? And would you work with fellow council members? How would you work with fellow council members if you were elected?
Dawn Johnson: So, you know, I am an independent, and I have already been working with the council. I've worked with Jan Michelle on a task force committee to come up with some other ideas for the Connected Communities legislation, and I would just keep doing that. You know, honestly, it's really about, what are our morals, and, you know, what can we agree on? How can we find common ground? So, you know, I do feel like there's a lot of top down politics happening. I do feel like there's not a lot of opposition occurring down there. And you know that doesn't really make for a well rounded decision making when you just have people that are just always agreeing with the mayor. So there definitely needs to be some shake up down there in council.
Host: Sure you mentioned the independent status, right? Like, why is that important to you?
Dawn Johnson: You know, that's because I, you know, I am right down the middle. I am, you know, and seeing this leadership really showed me that having a independent stance and being progressive is important, and it's what the community needs.
Host: Sure there are neighbors who are worried about crime, and there's also been national attention on the city in terms of crime and criticism of how city leaders have responded to that. How do you think City Council should work to reduce crime and also address the public perception and concern about safety?
Dawn Johnson: Okay, that's a great question. So you know, everybody's worried about safety, I think that we were handled very poorly this year. They did not do a lot of planning. You can't be in the middle of the summer and start scrambling and say, Hey, let's come up with a curfew. Let's stop the red bikes, let's stop the food trucks. Why are you doing this right now? It's a little too late. Start planning right now for next summer, so that you have programming, so that you have the people in place. You know that the, you know, we have these events every year so, you know, just, just plan better. Yeah, and I just think that was just handled really, really bad. I in terms of safety, I take a holistic view on safety, yes, we do need more police officers, because a lot of them are retiring, so we just we need that. On the other hand, I think that we need more resources for our youth. For example, I remember when I was younger, they had a lot of programming downtown during the summer, they had, like a community talent show. Where's that, you know, get the kids excited. And maybe, you know, we have a talent show, and they can win some money, or, you know, come up with a incubator, a good idea for the kids to come up with, our problem, for the kids to come up with. And if they win, they get some money, like, get them excited about being in our community instead of not having anything to do and then just focusing on punishment and getting them back into the house get them excited.
Host: Sure, I want to ask you one more question about public safety, and we'll move on to some other issues. City Council voted to add an additional $5.4 million to the public safety kind of budget, the spending that they're going to spend on, you know, police and things like that. Do you agree with that in the kind of the way that that played out? Or would you put a different solution forward?
Dawn Johnson: You know, resources are definitely needed, but you know, prevention pays off. So you know, if you think about it like this, every $1 invested saves $7 and in terms of, like, how are we, how we respond to like trauma and emergencies, we're saving a lot more money through prevention and so, you know, I think that we need to fund more like trauma recovery. I think, I think the allocation is what we need to focus on. You know, I don't think that we're being intentional about helping the youth with trauma and their responses to trauma, because what we do know is that if you're exposed to trauma, you're 10 times likely to commit a crime. So what are we doing to really help these youth and address these things head on so that they're not. Feeling left alone and up to their own devices and committing crime. So I think it's the way that we need to look at it, and we need to reallocate the budget.
Host: I'm talking with Cincinnati City Council candidate Dawn Johnson. So the federal stimulus funds that the city was getting over the last few years, those have been depleted, and the city is facing projected budget deficits over the next few years. What do you think city council needs to do to ensure financial stability for the city?
Dawn Johnson: That's a great question. So, I mean, my first question is, where, where's the railroad money? Okay, where's like, why are we saying that we're broke when we just had this, like, multi billion dollar deal? Like, what's going on? So, and that's one of the reasons I need to get in there. I want to see what's going on. How are we crying broke when we just voted to have this money allocated? And I know that that was for infrastructure and things of that nature. But even still, well, what happened during the winter when we needed, when we needed the resources? So I don't understand why they're saying that we don't have the money. Where is it? That's my question.
Host: It's funny you mentioned winter storms, because that's my next question. How would you help prepare for the city? How would you help prepare the city for major weather events? Should you be elected to council? What are some of the things you're gonna do when you if you got in there?
Dawn Johnson: Okay, so first and foremost, like Minneapolis was able to cut their storm delays by 40% and with with emergency neighborhood hubs. So that's one of the things that I'm thinking of. Like we need hubs in our various neighborhoods. We need better infrastructure for like, early warnings and for warming sensors, and, you know, we need to plan ahead again. We need to plan ahead. We don't need to wait until winter to figure it out. It's we're kind of like seeing a pattern here. You know, we're being more reactive than proactive. So it's saying, you know, what do we predict for the winter, and how can we get ready and make sure that we're ready, and how can we find the funds to allocate what is needed? So I think it's just, I'm glad you're asking the question now, because they need to be asking themselves this question and planning accordingly.
Host: Sure. So there's been a lot of conversation over the years in Cincinnati and in neighboring cities about the role of the mayor, how strong a mayor should be, right? Council, that's a big part of the job is to work with the mayor, right? So what do you see as the proper role of the mayor? And you know, like, what level of strength should the mayor have?
Dawn Johnson: Hmm, well, right now he is definitely a strong mayor. I think Aftab is a good guy. You know, that he has really good qualities. I see him in the community. I see that he's active. I think that he has good intentions. But also, you know, I think that his role is to listen more to the community members. So just because you come to a festival and you're shaking hands with everybody, are you really talking to the people? Are you really asking them what they need? Are you really meeting people where they are? And I just don't see that happening right now, like I just think that he's lost his way a little bit, because he just is not being responsive to the people. Why are you on vacation during the big, busiest weekend, you know, of the summer. What? Why did you do that? How did you Why weren't you prepared? Why weren't you encouraging Council and the manager to be prepared for these events over the summer that occur annually? So you know, it's planning ahead. It's being involved. It's making sure that you're staying focused on what's important, which is us, the residents of Cincinnati, so and not necessarily. I mean, yeah, granted, everybody needs vacation, but come on, really, during the busiest time of the summer.
Host: So in terms of the kind of broader, like systemic thing, whoever the mayor is briefly, how much they should they have? And what will you do on council to be kind of a counterweight right, to make sure that the people are heard. You know, in that way,
Dawn Johnson: I think that the mayor needs to. It's the responsibility of the mayor to push for more like structured partnerships between mayor and council, I think that it is, you know, really important for him to just concentrate the power around the city better give more of the organizations that are built to help and give resources to the Residents of Cincinnati, make sure that they are properly funded. You know, you the the role of the mayor is, is to make sure that we're okay. I mean, it's, I stand by that as he needs to give he just needs to be more involved in what's going on. Right, but also not just trying to control it. He needs to be asking the community what they want and getting their input. So it needs to be more of a conversation than him just dictating what needs to be done, or, you know, just infringing on or imposing his views and what his agenda is on people in the community. He needs to listen more sure.
Host: We've talked about some big issues, is there one that's on your radar that you feel like needs to be addressed, that hasn't been addressed?
Dawn Johnson: Okay, great. So, yeah, I think again, it's, it's, it's trust there, the people don't have a lot of trust in council right now, and it's like any relationship, every relationship is built on trust. And that is very concerning to me, that we have a community that feels let down, even on their worst day, they feel like they're not being listened to, they feel like they're not being cared for, and that is absolutely, very concerning. We need to invest in our youth. That's also something that's on my mind. I want to create more programming. I think that our nonprofit infrastructure should be more organized and efficient. I believe our 311, system needs to be more efficient. We need more tech driven solutions to really help us to be more efficient and to serve our community better. So trust is big. It's trust, it's youth, it's safety, it's wellness.
Host: Sure, you kind of touched on this in your answer, but I'm going to ask it straight out, and maybe there's some other things that come to mind. We got, you know, a little bit of time to talk about it. If elected, what do you plan to introduce and accomplish during the next two years on council?
Dawn Johnson: So, you know, first and foremost, again, building the trust in the community, working with the Councils repeal and replace connected communities. You know, I want to make sure that we have more a better and more intentional trauma response system built into the schools. I also want to create a youth council that gives us half a vote on council. And, you know, I want to hear the voice of the youth. I think that it's really important to hear them and to have them involved in some of the decision making, I want to begin just coming up with better ways that we can look at affordable housing and get people keys, get people home ownership and making sure that we're well mentally, physically and emotionally.
Host: Dawn Johnson, thank you for joining us to discuss your candidacy for Cincinnati City Council. Up next, I sit down with candidate Gary Favors. This is Cincinnati Edition.
Host: Gary Favors is an Avondale resident running for Cincinnati City Council. He's endorsed by the Hamilton County Republican Party. He joins me now. Welcome to the show, Gary. So we need to get into some issues, but first I want to ask you to introduce yourself in a few sentences. Tell us briefly about yourself and why you're running for council.
Gary Favors: Born and raised in Cincinnati, went to Roger Bacon High School, attended grade school at St. Francis Seraph School downtown, went off to college at Carson Newman College, where I graduated back in the early 90s, then served in the US Army, did a tour of duty in the Gulf War. So I've spent 12 years in the military serving my country.
Host: Thank you for your service. I'm going to get right into these questions about some some issues, some policy. Here. First, I want to talk a little about politics. In the last term, the mayor and city council seats have all been held by Democrats, right? How do you think this dynamic has played out, and how would you work with fellow council members if you're elected?
Gary Favors: Well, if elected, you have to be able to work across the aisle, being able to work with everyone as an educator. I have to work with parents, I have to work with students, I have to work with many constituents as an educator. So working across the aisle, working with Democrats would be part of my job. Is to work with everyone to help this city move forward, is what I see we need to do.
Host: Do you feel like the city needs more representation from different parties and different Absolutely?
Gary Favors: Absolutely, grew up in a two parent house. Had a mom and dad. They stress. My job was purely education. There was nothing else I had to worry about. My job was to get a good education, graduate, go to college, and then off in the military to serve my country, and now I want to serve this city.
Host: Yeah, so one of the big issues that we've been hearing a lot about is public safety. There are a lot of neighbors who are worried about crime, and there has also been national attention on the city in terms of some the city's crime rates and some specific incidents, and there's been some criticism of city leaders and how they've responded. How do you think City Council should work to reduce crime and also address the public perception concerns about safety?
Gary Favors: Well, one of the things that we saw, excuse me, downtown was very much a logistical nightmare of having three events go on at the same time. It was just, in my opinion, poor planning on many parts, safety in the city, in my opinion, is top priority, having enough police officers who walk the beat, who are out of their cars, building relationships with people is key. So public safety is one of my number one issues. I was endorsed by the FOP so that should say that safety is my top priority in the city, that everyone feels safe. Sure.
Host: Now let's dive in a little bit on some some, some of the issues, a little bit more. So the Council recently voted to approve an additional $5.4 million for public safety. They did that in and appropriated it in various places. Do you agree with that move, and what solutions would you put forward if you were a council member?
Gary Favors: I agree with the move in regards to getting more manpower to our police, but it has to be a balanced approach. The last op ed article that I wrote in the inquire sort of said we're doing more for police, but we also have to do more for our firefighters. You have to balance both. You can't have one having all the necessary tools and not having the firefighters have the necessary tools to do their job, because they work in tangent. Police and Fire work together. So that would be my only but then they went back and passed another ordinance for our firefighters. So it should have been done, a one and all done and done with it. But again, I think that type of move should have been just for both police and firefighters.
Host: Sure, yeah. And in this, in this sort of debate about how this 5.4 million was going to get spent. There was some conversation about, you know, how much was going to go for, like, police overtime, for visibility, right? And then, like technology, like drone programs and cameras and things like that. And then some other folks on Council were arguing for, like, a longer term approach, taking into account, like the systemic issues that might cause crime and and, you know, trauma. Other people experience, where do you? Where do you land on that? Are you? What's your priority in that?
Gary Favors: Well, I think we need police visibility, don't get me wrong, but we need police engaging with the community and the neighborhoods. Building relationships, as I said before, is key in deterring crime, building relationships with businesses is key. My thing is, our police have been short of manpower. That's why we've had the conundrum of issues in the city with what we've seen. They've been short, and it never has been addressed till now. And that's why we need a balance Republicans and Democrats. You can't have a council that has only one sided of Not, not just representing one party, there needs to be a balance.
Host: So part of that, that manpower issue was, was budget, right? And part of it is also, there's a there's a difficulty in recruiting candidates sometimes, yeah. How would you address that part of it?
Gary Favors: Yeah, in my op ed article I did in the inquire, it suggested looking at a variety of ways. Looking at high schools, getting young people interested in the profession, looking at military police, who are folks who are retiring from the military, who may want to join forces with our police agency, a number of things that can be done, but I think again, it's a tough job. You're talking about putting your life on the line. You're talking about the possibility not seeing family and friends and loved ones in this position as an officer. It's a tough job, and you have to one increase the pay. The pay is low. We need to look at that. And so a number of things that I listed of how to, you know, recruit early enough to get young people interested.
Host: Sure, I'm speaking with Cincinnati City Council Candidate Gary favors. Now, Gary, you're a long time educator. I think you ran for Board of Education at one point. How do you see the interplay between city council and city government and Cincinnati Public School District?
Gary Favors: Well, I see it in tangent, both working together to address our young people and making sure they get educated, and making sure the city is a place that they would want to stay or come back, just like I did, a place where they can see themselves raising a family. I think the two should be in tangent, the city and our public school system,
Host: Let's move on to talk about an important issue that I think some people maybe don't pay as much attention to as they should, but the city budget right with the Federal Stimulus now depleted. We've been getting that for a few years, and we're not going to get it in the future. The city is facing some projected budget deficits over the next few years. What do you think city council needs to do to ensure financial stability?
Gary Favors: I think we need to look at where the money is going, where we can cut, where we can really balance the budget, to look at a deficit, which is troubling because of the fact that, you know, I think, like the previous guest said, we've sold the railroad. Where's that money going? People have asked me, where is that money going? And really digging into the numbers and figuring out what's happening with the dollars to come up with a deficit.
Host: Now, do you feel like there are ways in which this is really apparent to folks, like, I'd say, like, the condition of the streets and stuff is that, is that something that you think constituents or people that might vote for you or other candidates are going to respond to, that they're connecting these things?
Gary Favors: Yes, I think one of the things, as I've heard and been out in the communities that the streets having potholes fixed, some of the basic things I think that should be happening hasn't happened and continues not to happen in those basic services that we All expect, and I expect, as a taxpayer,
Host: Just to connect some dots, that railroad money is supposed to be used for infrastructure, and it takes a couple years for it to get through, and it's just starting to come through. But I think there are a lot of people who are questioning, like, Why aren't our roads in better condition, right? Yes, so I'm going to stay on this. Streets and roads issue here for a second, the city faced criticism for this year's Winter Storm and response time. You probably remember that, how would you help prepare the city for major weather events?
Gary Favors: Well, let me go back to sort of your question. Strong mayor, a city manager. The role of a city manager is to ensure that our streets, our streets, are the snow removal all of that that falls under the jurisdiction of a city manager. I think there has been some challenges there with the city manager, but I think we need someone that can lead, someone that can address these because a lot of what we're talking about and all practicality falls under the city manager's purview. And so when these things are not done, we need to make sure, as City Council folks, that we're holding people accountable. That's the bottom line of it. Is holding people accountable and not just having a title. Sure.
Host: So. And I asked this to the last person I'm going to ask you, what do you think the proper role for the mayor is, like, how much power should a mayor have as a person who wants to be a council member? You know you're you're vying for a job, kind of keeping that in check in some ways, but also working with that Mayor. So what's your thought on that? What how much strength does the mayor have?
Gary Favors: Well, I think the mayor needs to have some strength in in the play in the city. And I don't, I think going back to the days where I think council made the decision who would be the next mayor, I really think the bottom line of it is a strong city manager, because the city manager is responsible for negotiating contracts, negotiating a lot of tough things, and you need to make sure you have the right person in that seat to do the job. So in the mayor is in the past has been, previously has been just sort of a figurehead. Again, the city manager is the one that really runs a city.
Host: In the last few minutes, we have left I want to get to another big issue that has been, I think, really driving this, this election season, councils face these accusations, right, of not really listening to people in communities on the Connected Communities issue, the zoning reform in 2024 and the Hyde Park Square development this year as a member of city council, how would you balance that community input like that, that need for people to feel like they have a say in their neighborhoods, with the desire to say add housing or do other things that maybe benefit the city as a whole?
Gary Favors: I think we always need to listen to the city. I think we need to get behind the chamber walls of city hall and go out to neighborhoods and host meetings to hear from them, because in order to move this city forward, you have to listen to the people, and again, try to understand that there are communities that have been long standing in the city that deserve all of our 52 neighborhoods deserve the best, but when they're not listened to, when they're not heard, we have what we have in High Park. We have what we have in different neighborhoods. All 52 neighborhoods should be given equal resources. And sometimes that doesn't happen. If you look at Hyde Park, if you look at Avondale, all neighborhoods need to be given adequate resources.
Host: Some of the things at the core of like connected communities, for instance, was maybe a discomfort with the idea that your neighborhood might change, right? Do you think there's room for things like zoning reform? What's that tension is tough to work out, isn't it?
Gary Favors: Yeah, and it goes back to what you said, listening to the folks in the community is so key. You know, what do they want for their communities? What do they need for their communities? Pushing an agenda that may not fit their community is not something that I'm for. I'm for development. But if the rising up of a neighborhood, they're not for it, I don't think we should force it, because there are other neighborhoods that may want that what they don't want. So we have to balance it.
Host: Briefly, if elected, what do you plan to introduce and accomplish in the next two years on council?
Gary Favors: Public safety, pedestrian safety around our schools, and housing, affordable housing are my three top priorities.
Host: I see, tell me a little bit more just in the next 30 seconds about how you want to get into each of those.
Gary Favors: Well, I think we've started the conversations with public safety right now in the current Council, I would like to continue to expand, working with the police department, working with our fire department, and again, working with these agencies, along with the city manager. How do we continue to build the momentum that has been started, to move, to move things forward.
Host: I've been speaking with Cincinnati City Council Candidate Gary Favors. Thank you so much for joining us. Tune in all this week and next as our candidate interviews continue.