Our interviews with more than two dozen Cincinnati City Council candidates continues.
Over the next two weeks on Cincinnati Edition, we鈥檝e invited all of the candidates on the show.
Guests:
- Ryan James
- Incumbent Meeka Owens
- Incumbent Mark Jeffreys
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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Cincinnati's budget, infrastructure and public safety were top of mind when we talked with two candidates for Cincinnati City Council yesterday. Today, we're joined by two incumbents on council, but first I'm joined by Ryan James. He's running with a Hamilton County Democratic party endorsement, and he's a West End resident. Ryan, welcome to the show. Tell us about yourself and why you're running.
Ryan James: My name is Ryan James. I'm running for Cincinnati City Council. Excited to be in the race. This is my first time running here, and I am endorsed by the Democratic Party. An interesting thing about me is I would be the youngest black man in history ever elected to Cincinnati City Council. Which I think brings an opportunity to not only drive innovation with my background in public administration and social services, but also to just bring a new voice to the table and bring younger voices to the table. With the average voter in Cincinnati being over the age of sixty years old, I think it's time for some fresher perspectives. Here is a little bit about me and my background. I experienced homelessness with my single mom as a young man. We had a family owned window business that unfortunately crashed in the 2008 housing crisis. Because of that, we experienced homelessness for about a year and a half sleeping in a family van. We were also first-generation homeowners, and sadly, lost that responsibility and privilege within a matter of a couple months. So I walked into being a young man and walking into the workforce as a young professional and getting educated. Deeply, deeply passionate about our families in our region having the tools they need to survive and thrive economically. I recently stepped down as the Director of Strategy for the Greater Cincinnati United Way. Before that, I worked with Easterseals and Talbert House, particularly as a social worker or workforce development, making sure folks had access to the workforce here in Cincinnati, particularly those who had shared time with the US prison system. And before that, I worked with Children's Defense Fund, making sure some of our low income residents, youth had opportunities, particularly over the summer in the city, making sure that young people have access to safe, constructive programs over that time, as well as providing free child care to the families.
Host: So, as you mentioned, you're endorsed by the Democratic Party. The council, in its current iteration, is held entirely by Democrats. But that could change. Should that happen, and should you be elected, how would you work with folks, across the aisle? The council has been accused of lacking in diversity of party of late.
Ryan James: That's a new phenomenon here in Cincinnati. So I don't want to act like that's like an unmovable barrier here. I think, if I'm forced to work exclusively with folks in the party or across the aisle, I think I represent a unique piece on the Swiss Army knife. You know, there's nine folks on City Council. We all have our unique skills and expertise. Mine is particularly in economically empowering our residents, especially in this cost of living crisis. I believe in our city's opportunities to grow here equitably. Equitably. That means workforce development, that means job growth, that means housing and then protecting our residents that are most vulnerable. That means youth programs, that means affordable housing, that means removing barriers to employment in our region. So I think that's my dog in the fight, and whoever I'm working with, I'm excited to bring that expertise to the table and drive some work forward.
Host: Well, speaking of housing, the council has faced some accusations about not listening to the community on issues such as Connected Communities, the zoning reform from 2024 the Hyde Park Square development from earlier this year. How would you sort of balance that community impact with the desire to increase housing?
Ryan James: I think there's so much room to grow here in our community listening mechanism, where I'm particularly running on opportunity, access and trust. And trust is all built on rehealing trust between our communities and City Hall. I know from my background in social services that we have resources at the city, but resources built in a silo don't mean anything to our residents. So I'm a big believer in uplifting community voice and making sure that we are. I think one of our most key responsibilities as city council members is listening to our residents, I think as that pertains to economic development, that means getting out into communities often and early. We need to be the face that communities interact with, not developer. To build trust, proactively seek strategy about economic development and proactively work with our neighbor. Councils not throwing that responsibility over the fence for our neighborhood councils to handle.
Host: You talked about experiencing homelessness as a child. Do you have specific plans for housing that you would maybe want to implement?
Ryan James: Absolutely So right now, we're behind in the foot race to create more units in housing. We're 50,000 units short in the region. That's devastating. I think that where I bring a unique perspective here is I am deeply sensitive to this cost of living crisis that we're in. W ith property taxes skyrocketing, with cost of building materials skyrocketing. Not a lot of people know this, but the average year of construction for a home in Hamilton County is actually 1961. So we actually have an aging housing stock. The city currently has a pot of money called Harbor, H-A-R-B-O-R, which is a pot of money for cost-burdened residents to be able to gain access to home repair dollars, which are deeply, deeply valuable to our residents right now. One of the things I'm really excited to change, and use my background in public administration to change is some of the barriers that exist right now. You actually need a building code and inspections violation on your property to get access to those valuable social service dollars. So when you're telling residents, we need you to break the law before you can get access to the resources that you need the most, I like to ask ourselves, are we building trust? Are we building traps for our residents? And I think building off that opportunity access trust platform, we need to be building trust.
Host: Sticking with funding. You know, the federal stimulus was something that sort of helped meet a lot of those goals, but that's been depleted. The city's been facing some budget deficits. You know, how do you fund all of these things? What you know? What do you think city council needs to do to ensure financial stability?
Ryan James: Yeah, we it's time to get more creative here, quite frankly. I think that the largest, most upstream strategy in order to fill that revenue gap is -- instead of raising taxes, that's financially empowering our tax base, which means putting more money in our residents pockets, which means giving them access to their to our growing city. So that means jobs, that means job growth, that means access to workforce development. Not a lot of young people who feel like they are empowered to go to UC or Xavier in our communities. But even some folks who know that going to four year university may not be the option for them. They still need access to programs like building futures, like Youth Builders. Not a lot of young people know that you can be getting paid six figures as an electrician just a few years out of high school. So those type of awesome economic opportunities are just a few inches away for our young people, I think making sure that they, one, know about those opportunities through community engagement, and two, by removing barriers to those opportunities they have the resources they need to access them. I think that's how we grow our tax base.
Host: Let's take a shift toward crime. A lot of folks are worried about crime. There's been national attention on the city's crime rates, criticism of how the city has responded. How do you think City Council should work to reduce crime and also address this public perception and concern about safety?
Ryan James: I think it's imperative that we understand that public safety is not just an issue with policing, as public administrators, as elected officials. We have so many tools to deploy here in order to prevent and stop crime in our city. I will say that it is deeply important here that we invest in our neighborhoods equitably. It is the neighborhoods that are experiencing crimes are the same ones that are have been begging for equitable investment for years. So I think it's in paramount that we are listening to our communities. We're investing our communities equitably, not just downtown and OTR. Making sure that blighted buildings, invested in business districts, even things as basic as public services. We see investment across our 52 neighborhoods. I also think that it's paramount here that when we talk about particularly our young people over the summer, as we talk about crime, we're talking about getting upstream and investing in our young people instead of just incarcerating them. I'm a big believer here in growing community policing infrastructure, which means officers get out of the squad car and are more visible on the streets and are proactively trained on how to interact with community members. That means police officers on the streets saying hello, opening the door for you at local businesses, not just driving around in squad cars, which can present for a lot of residents a scary experience. I think that's something we need to be very aware of. I will also say that, you know, it's the idea of poverty and crime is inseparable. So I think by giving our residents the tools to survive and thrive in this economic crisis, we will inherently address some of the barriers. That we face with crime.
Host: You've mentioned investing in youth twice now. What are some of the specific ways or programs that you would look into?
Ryan James: Oh, yeah, I think some new programs and opportunities. The Children's Defense Fund is a program that's based out of Washington D.C. that I'm very passionate about, that I would love to see scaled up here in Cincinnati, that hasn't had a presence in quite some time. What it is is a youth literacy program that can adapt to all ages, under the age of high school graduates, that is offered over the summer, and offers a curriculum tailored to the students needs. So that may be reading, that may be math. And what it does is offers free childcare for the families and takes some of those educational outcomes that tend to stagnate over the summer, and gives students a curriculum to boost those educational outcomes over the summer. So when I talked about reading and math, but that can also be college readiness, that can also be community engagement, that can be matching them with mentorship opportunities for the workforce. I think that's a really exciting program and a really exciting example of what a Ryan James youth program would look like.
Host: One way they've tried to sort of curb youth issues this summer is by instituting the curfew. They changed some restrictions on Red Bikes, and that's not just the kids. The food trucks downtown, those types of things. Do you think rules like that are necessary and effective?
Ryan James: Quite frankly, no. I think what we need to talk about, with the limited amount of time and resources that we have as members of Cincinnati City Council is investing in our young people, not hiding them from the community.
Host: Also, one thing the city faced criticism from back in the winter was the response to the big snow storm and the cleanup. How would you prepare the city for more major weather incidents?
Ryan James: We need to make it, frankly, a budget priority, and we need to invest in basic public services. I think it's a quite frankly, in the campaign trail, it's an issue that gets overlooked. It's not the it's not the shiny issue, right, but it's the majority of our responsibility here as public administrators and elected officials, is making sure that, particularly those winter storm response times, as well as other basic services. Making sure that you're trashed off the streets, making sure that when you walk off your property that the tree roots from the trees outside your house having grown up your sidewalk so it's no longer wheelchair accessible, or you can't drive out your driveway right. Making sure that potholes are fixed in the city. It's those things begin be again, to be a little less shiny on the campaign trail, but deeply, deeply impact the lived experience of our residents and need to be budget priorities.
Host: What do you feel is the most important issue facing the city, and how would you deal with it?
Ryan James: I think this cost of living crisis. I think that right now we have, we have so many residents that are cost burdened. I think that these, the Enquirer just did an article about particularly Duke bills. I think your Duke bill should not look like your mortgage payment here. I think it's been devastating. I think property taxes and the cost of building materials have aligned. So I think right now, our most imperative focus in City Hall needs to be alleviating that economic harm for our residents. We've been listening to our aging residents. We understand that home repair programs. We have a lot of vulnerable residents that have gotten access to home ownership, that are facing devastating circumstances, are on the cusp of evictions and foreclosures. We've been talking to young residents. We understand that entry to the job market and workforce here in Cincinnati, we have such a flight of talent from young people deciding to go to the Atlantas, the DCs, the New Yorks, the Columbuses, because they don't feel like they have booming economies and booming choices here in Cincinnati. And that's something that I'd like to see changed. And I also think we need to talk about access the job market. I think workforce development similar to basic services is something that tends to get neglected. I think if we have real opportunities, real pipelines for our young, our working professionals, for aging residents to get the resources they need to survive and thrive. We will get upstream and face some of our largest challenges as a city. We will be a wonderful, beautiful city to be able to survive and thrive in.
Host: How do we fund it? How do we fund that work?
Ryan James: Well, I think I'm talking about budget priorities here. So I think that there's some cost cutting that we can do with the city. I think there's some basic bureaucracy and waste. Think things like unused vehicles. I think there's things like, even when you get very granular, when you look at cities, some of our waste, like printing costs and processes that can be innovated through technology. There's money to be saved first of all, but I think the there's some innovative stuff to throw at the wall. There's some exciting work in public private partnerships that I don't think I have the time to dwell on here, but there's some really cool work going on when you get granular. But I think the most substantive thing we can do is create a tax base that is economically empowered, and as a city, we will benefit.
Host: Cincinnati City Council member Meeka Owens has served four years in City Hall and has made tenants鈥� rights one of her priorities. She has the Hamilton County Democratic Party's endorsement, and she hails from North Avondale. This is Cincinnati Edition on WVXU, I'm Tana Weingartner, filling in for Lucy May. Welcome Councilmember. We are here to discuss why she's running for reelection. Tell us briefly about yourself and why you're running for reelection.
Meeka Owens: Well, thank you. Well, you touched on the neighborhood. I grew up not far from here, in Avondale. I, you know, grew up in a hardworking household. My dad was a member of a union, retired from General Electric. My mom retired from American Airlines. Hardworking family. I also raised my son in Avondale. He's a firefighter, very proud of him. But it's in the city where I organized. And so understanding the value of democracy and the strength that we have when we come together and we fight for the things that we believe in, and how that translates to electoral politics. And so here I am serving Cincinnati going on four years, and it's been quite an honor to be a part of change, and really how we move the city forward and how we grow. And how we become really a regional leader and a national leader on so many levels.
Host: We're going to start with crime. A lot of folks are worried about crime. There's been national attention on the city's crime rates, criticism of how city leaders have responded. How do you think City Council should work to reduce crime and also address, you know, the perceptions or people's concerns about crime.
Meeka Owens: Certainly. Reducing crime means that you're applying the resources where it's necessary. And so as CPD and as the entire city making decisions that are very data informed, it's important that our budget is reflective of that. And so that's why we invested, and I know that's probably another topic. But, you know, $5.4 million into increased public safety, and not just in the downtown core, but also across Cincinnati as it relates to police visibility. I think on the front end, when we think about safety, we also have to include others in that conversation, because perception is important. And so as some of our businesses, black-owned businesses were impacted and have been impacted since the fight, the incident that happened downtown. It's important to get people around the table and talk through what are their needs as it relates to safety as well, and so that's what I've done. And engagement matters and has to be an ongoing conversation. And as I have expressed to people, it has to have a 360 degree. 360 in terms of how we approach this. And so engagement matters and bringing people to the table.
Host: Have you been speaking with people? If so, what are you hearing in terms of their solutions?
Meeka Owens: Yeah, well, I'm hearing that business is down for some and so because of the perception and people not coming downtown. Or not choosing to be here for a period of time until the city does XYZ. You know that matters. It matters that when people are leaving the Justice Center and still have other needs, social services needs, and then on Court Street, those things, you know, people start to migrate down. Those are pieces that impact. And so when I say a 360 view, it also takes additional systems to come to the table to recognize what are the challenges here. And again, where must we apply the resources. That's the city and the county being partnered on this issue as well.
Host: You just mentioned the additional $5.4 million that councilmembers, you included, voted to approve. Tell us a little bit about, you know, your decision to do that, and how you see it. It was only like two weeks ago, how you see that sort of playing out.
Meeka Owens: Certainly. Safety is always an investment, and we can never go wrong there. And so in the conversations that I've been having, police visibility is at the top of the list, everywhere from downtown to Bond Hill to Roselawn to my community, my neighborhood of Avondale. And so I think being responsive, certainly, again, it's a priority for us at City Hall, and it's a priority for our residents as well. And so that was the that was the impetus, investing in technology. Investing in -- it was really a comprehensive package, investing in recruiting more officers and using technology and the things that are working there. So I think we're doing the things that are necessary, and that was what is important to demonstrate to the citizens of this community that city hall listens and we also respond.
Host: You mentioned, folks are saying that they're worried about coming downtown, or downtown businesses are saying folks are saying they're worried about coming there. What about, you know, other neighborhoods like Walnut Hills, or even here in Evanston, where we are, Price Hill, you know, concerns about crimes in those areas as well?
Meeka Owens: Yeah. Well, police visibility again, at the top of the list. And officers being those faces in community is pretty important for folks. But again, this is where we engage and we also look at the data. And we know that there's property theft happening. It's happening in the downtown, urban core, and so that's where you're going to see most of that response. But what I also want to say about this topic is that we've got to go upstream in this conversation as well. And when we think about post-pandemic and young people who have been isolated, even as a result of learning loss, all of those things, we're talking about young people who need hope and opportunity, and so this has to be a part of the conversation of how we shift Cincinnati moving forward, and how we do address crime, particularly when we're when we're looking at our young people.
Host: And what do you propose?
Meeka Owens: Well, we've got to invest in them, skills training, opportunity, all those pieces matter that requires us collaborating as a community that we do so well. We've got CPS, we've got government, we've got nonprofits, philanthropy, and we've got a business community. So I think this is our moment for us to really be focused on an aspirational agenda for young people and be, you know, have a concerted kind of perspective, effort and energy on what are the outcomes that were that we want to all pursue together. And that, you know, the future is certainly bright when we think about workforce and green jobs and making sure that young people can come out of CPS and earn $100,000 without necessarily having to go to college. And it's important that we create these opportunities and build these pipelines, because the jobs of tomorrow are happening right now, and so we've got to get our young people prepared for that. And I will say this too. I was just at Withrow on Saturday, at the Withrow-Taft game, and just talking to some young, young people that were were out there. And you know, just asking them what's important to you. They want to earn money. They want to earn skills. I asked them, What would you do if you earned more money? Clothes, save money, you know, go have lunch, you know, all the things that all of us want. And so now it's time for us to be laser-focused on them.
Host: So you mentioned listening to kids in the community. Council has really faced accusations of not listening to communities on issues like the Connected Communities zoning reform that was from 2024 the Hyde Park Square development earlier this year. How do you respond to that criticism?
Meeka Owens: Yeah, well, we certainly listened and engaged. Just with Connected Communities, I think that was a two-year process. And so I think me, personally, I'm also someone who has open door policy, always there to listen. I think what's important in this, this conversation, too, is that recognizing that we're not always going to all agree on the same things. In terms of how we get there, maybe. But let's create opportunities to have aspirational conversations around why building housing actually matters, why growing our city matters. And I think those get lost in some of these things, because it becomes an emotional response. And so this is where I think community planning, supporting neighborhood plans, building capacity in neighborhoods. You know, works well. When there is a CDC, a community council and a business, a business committee that is focused on the growth of a neighborhood, that helps to leverage what we're doing from City Hall, and that is a you know, that builds momentum and moving the city forward. So at the end of the day, you know, 100% agreement doesn't always mean that we're not listening.
Host: With federal stimulus depleted or nearly depleted, the city is facing a projected budget deficit several over the next several years. What do you think city council needs to do to ensure financial stability?
Meeka Owens: Absolutely. Increasing revenues is always important. Creating greater efficiency, efficiencies within operations is always important. We did commission a futures commission, which were the most astute business leaders, who are, you know, leading fortune 500 companies, to really take a look and an examination of what our fiscal sustainability might look like. And so for me, it is, and though they are a set of recommendations, it's a framework for which we need to dig deep. But at the end of the day, it's about increasing revenue.
Host: Are there any specifics that were recommended that you feel strongly about pursuing?
Meeka Owens: There's a lot in there. I think I'll reserve any kind of specifics because you know, it's going to take this entire council and mayor to move in a certain direction, but it is something for us to put our attention to, and the pension is an important piece to how we really address our budget. That's a big piece.
Host: Explain a little bit for our listeners who maybe aren't familiar with the pension situation that you're talking about.
Meeka Owens: So in order for us to become solvent, how much we're increasing to that is important, and we've got a deadline in terms of an agreement that was made. And so in order to pursue that, it's a matter of what's the money that we have to be able to add to that pension fund.
Host: So you said, you know, it takes the council all working together to make these things happen. Right now, the council is currently held by all democratic members. But you know, how do you think that dynamic is sort of played out if you're all on the same side?
Meeka Owens: Well, I will say this, it's played out well, because I think we are a council that's aligned on what's important and how we pursue it. We're a council that's aligned on what disparity means in systems, and so when I think about the work of evictions that we've done that I've been able to lead on and reducing that and providing an attorney and rental assistance to help mitigate the disproportionate impact. Which, by the way, impacts single female heads of households and more so black moms, single black moms are sending her kids to CPS schools. And so it was a no brainer in terms of moving that type of policy and legislation forward. It is this council who has addressed baby bonds and relieving medical debt and building more housing, which is why we increased money into the affordable housing leverage fund. It is this council that I think a majority of us made a decision about how we invest in infrastructure, which is a large part of our budget, that the cost of it is only going up, and deferred maintenance is absolutely expensive. And so at the end of the day, I think we're aligned. We don't always agree, but we're aligned. And you know, I am someone who shows up in City Hall every day ready to do the work and be aligned with people who want to do the same thing and grow Cincinnati. And so I am someone who can work with anyone who shares those same values.
Host: And I mean, there's no guarantee that that would stay the same. It could change. You might could have some Republicans or Charterites get elected. And I assume, you know, if I said, 鈥楬ow would you work with people across the aisle,鈥� you'd say鈥� And I mean, there's no guarantee that that would stay the same. It could change. You might could have some Republicans or Charter rights get elected. And I assume, you know, if I said, How would you work with people across the aisle, you'd say:
Meeka Owens: I absolutely would work with people across the aisle.
Host: So, if you have this democratic majority, super majority here in Cincinnati, but at the state government, it's the opposite. There's the Republican super majority. How do you guys work together for issues that affect are effective locally, but are being made by an opposite majority?
Meeka Owens: Well, you know, at the city, I think the saying is, you know, potholes and road pavement, you know, that's not a Democrat or Republican issue. It's an issue about how we are most responsible to our city's budget and delivering the services that our residents need and require. And I think what's important, is that coming together and having the tough conversations to the point of the budget and what important and necessary decisions might have to be made. It's having the mindset of being able to do that. And you know across the aisle, you know people that share that same vision. It's really to working to make Cincinnati more efficient, growing, a place that no matter what zip code you live in, you get the same quality of life.
Host: It's nice and beautiful out today, nice and warm, but the city took a lot of criticism and has you know in the past for the response to winter snow events. So how would you help the city prepare better for major weather events?
Meeka Owens: Certainly. We've got to make sure we're investing in our fleet and that the maintenance schedule of our fleet is is properly upkept and maintained. We have to make sure that we are adding the technology that is needed, so that we are moving away from, you know, paper maps to something that is more modernized. It's also important that we recognize that that was, you know, issue 22 and the sale of the railroad line helped us in this next biennial budget at $20 million for preventative road maintenance and to address potholes. And so when we think about a changing climate that's having a major impact on infrastructure, these are smart decisions as it relates to how we operate. And so I think we continue to apply the resources that we're getting from the railroad, and continue to, you know, prevent the things that we can and make smart investments.
Host: Is there a key transportation related infrastructure --existing infrastructure, that's the only thing the railroad funds can be used on -- that you feel is, you know, the most important area to focus on with those dollars.
Meeka Owens: Well, everyone loves a pothole to be eliminated. So, you know, there's that. But keeping our roads, you know, smooth, I think how it adds to the walkability of neighborhoods, and so making sure that sidewalks and people can traverse this community, including those that need accessibility in a wheelchair, that those are all hyper connected. I think that the major opportunities are also how we connect infrastructure to development as well. That certainly is an attraction. And so, you know, again, I just, I just go back to issue 22 knowing that how expensive things are. Thank you to the voters who thought that that was a good decision is as well. But you know, we've got a lot of deferred maintenance, so the list is, is very long, but at the end of the day, it's the assets in the community that people expect to be able to use, and particularly our rec centers, our young people when we're talking about centering them and creating spaces, those are important assets.
Host: This is Cincinnati edition on WVXU. I'm Tana Weingartner. Incumbent Democratic candidate Mark Jeffreys made pedestrian safety one of his policy priorities when he was first elected in 2021. He's a Clifton resident with the Hamilton County Democratic party endorsement. Councilmember Jeffreys, thank you so much for being here. We're going to start off as we have so far, tell us briefly about yourself and why you are running for reelection.
Mark Jeffreys: Thank you. So four years ago, I stepped away from running my business full time -- I have a data analytics company -- to serve in public service. I spent 25 years in business, 17 years as an executive at P&G. And it was there, when I was at P&G, that I got my first taste of what public service could look like. I was involved with getting P&G to donate a million dollars to create the four and a half acres. It's called the Go Vibrantscape gate, west of the Roebling Bridge, from a dilapidated parking lot to what it is today, the Smale Park area. Yeah, the foot piano and the flying pig and all that. And you know, I saw the impact that I could have, and I also saw our city, where a lot of folks did not have opportunity, and it felt very similar to me. So my background, I've been fortunate to truly live the American dream. My dad's an immigrant. Came here with absolutely nothing, you know, but I had a network of support. My parents encouraged me to get my first job as a janitor. I had good public schools. We had food stamps when my dad was sick. I had a union job when my mom passed, and I was able to use that as a way to get through college, and that network of support has really seen me through. I went on the University of Chicago, Georgetown, and then, of course, landed at P&G. Started getting more involved with the community on a Clifton town meeting on the Park Foundation Board, and then really started to decide to step up and run because I thought I could have an impact on the quality of life and make sure that everybody has the same opportunity that I did as a kid to achieve and live in a neighborhood where they had that opportunity.
Host: Well, council has faced accusations of not listening to community members on issues such as the Connected Communities zoning reform, the Hyde Park Square development. As a current member of city council, how do you respond to that criticism?
Mark Jeffreys: Yeah, the first thing, I mean, for me personally, a couple things. I go out to community councils twice, two to three times a month, there's 52 neighborhoods. So you can quickly do the math. That requires about two years to get through. I'm also walking all of the 52 neighborhoods. I'm about 110 miles in, contiguously. And it's not a, you know, there's no preset anything. You know, I just meet residents, go into businesses, hear what they have to say. So I think that's a part of it, is being present. The other thing specific to development, to your question, I think we need two things. One is, we need a clear process. You know, I think developers would say that community would say that, you know, in Hyde Park, for example, you know, there were missed expectations. Like, it should be pretty clear on what to expect, no surprises. You know what to expect, how many meetings there are, what the role of the meetings are, et cetera. So we need some reform there to make sure we're in agreement. But we also, I think, need to get on the same page relative to growth, and why it's important, and why is it important? Fundamentally, why we have these conflicts is, I don't think we're on the same page. It's important for a couple of reasons. One is, we are facing a housing crisis and costs for rent and property values going up. And then also, we're facing massive deficits going forward, and the way that we can get out of that is to grow. If we grow more supply that actually puts downward pressure on pricing. We know this for a fact. And we also know that roughly, for every 1000 people that we add in terms of population to the city, we get about a million in earnings tax. So for those of us who are older, who remember the 70s and 80s, where people left cities, and if you're declining, you lose a lot of that revenue. I think that's we don't want to be in that position, you know, where quality of life, therefore, starts to suffer. We'd rather be in a position where we're growing and growing smartly, but also balanced. So we do want to understand what the concerns are, balance, understand what the input is, you know, and continue to make sure that we're growing as a city.
Host: Well, how would you ensure the city's financial stability? You know, take the economic stimulus funding that's nearly depleted where the city is projected to have budget deficits.
Mark Jeffreys: Yeah, I think there's a couple things that we need to do. The first is, we need tighter budget management. During the pandemic, there was a reason why we were incredibly conservative in terms of our financial management, because we had no idea how much money was coming in or not. We're out of the pandemic. The fact that we have massive carryovers at the end of the year, and we saw this wind windfall of money, I don't think is the right approach going forward. We're no longer in the pandemic. So that鈥檚 first, I think we've got to be tighter on the front end. The second is, I think we need to expand shared services in the city and with the county. So I put forward a proposal to expand it with Parks and Rec, where Parks takes over green space of Rec, but then also within the county as well. We have had, and it's one of the future recommendations, is Great Parks managing some Cincinnati Parks, you know, they're our neighbors, so we need to explore that more shared services. And I do think there is, there's also a big push that I've had of not pushing cost onto taxpayers. So we've introduced, or introducing something called to have lift fees. So there's a lot of nursing homes that push costs onto the fire department. They have a lot of runs of they're not medical emergencies. They just didn't plan. And cost over 1 million - 2 million a year for the city, you know, things like that. Or if people are in a reckless crash, they're damaging public property. I'm sorry, but some of their insurance should cover some of that cost.
Host: Oh, so like, if you're in a car wreck, and you hit a poll, some of the insurance鈥�
Mark Jeffreys: Correct. If it's reckless driving, then I'm sorry, but you should, you should be paying a piece of that. The other thing is ensuring that the railroad sales go to current infrastructure. That is what it is designed for, but we need to make sure that we are continuing. I mean, it's great. We have 64 million between last year and this year, and this year, more than what we've gotten would have gotten from the lease. So we have more money, but we have to make sure that that continues to go and then I think there's some things that we can do. There's an article in the Wall Street Journal around, how do you leverage AI to, you know, not cut jobs, but to optimize, for example, your truck routes to. And a lot of cities have cut costs by 20% - 25% you know, leveraging, leveraging that in energy savings, in buildings, et cetera. So there's a lot there that I think we need to approach our budget holistically before even considering, okay, do we absolutely need to consider a tax increase? You know? I think we need to do the things that I mentioned first.
Host: we've gotten a lot of questions about the railroad fund. Can you sort of clarify what those dollars can be used for? And then maybe what you would where you think the priority should be in terms of using them.
Mark Jeffreys: Yeah, it is very clear, because it's in state law, it is for current infrastructure. So for example, fire trucks are not infrastructure. They're considered equipment. It's kind of legalese, but so that means roads, bridges, parks, rec centers, et cetera. I have been super clear. I use the word pave, pave, pave like that. We should focus on things especially short term, where people can see the impact and we all know the potholes, and it's a hidden tax for people often, because, you know, you get, you know, part of your car breaks off or something because you go over a nasty pothole. So we have to put an emphasis on, on, on those we've, we're investing in several rec centers, you know, that are dilapidated, you know, et cetera. So, parks, recs, roads, I think all of those things. All enabled by the fact that we have 64 million more than we had on the lease. And, oh, by the way, at the same time when we sold the railroad, is 1.6 billion. Now it's 1.8 billion. So we've added 200 million, and we're getting more. So I think it was a smart decision for the city to essentially create this ongoing trust for generations to come to make sure that we can meet our infrastructure needs.
Host: Another place where the city has been dinged for its response is in winter storm response, clearing roads and things. How could the city be more prepared? How would you lead the city to be more prepared?
Mark Jeffreys: So there are a few things that happened there. First, I think we need the right leadership. And so the manager's credit, she changed the leadership of DPS, and that's being accountable. Department of Public Services. And that's about accountability. So she was not seeing the results, and that is her decision. And kudos to her. The new Department of Public Services director is already looking at several things he wants to, for example, pre treat roads in the west side before the east side, because snow storms come west to east. Makes perfect sense to me. I'm no expert, but make sure the drivers are driving the same route so they don't have to learn a new route and they get confused. So operational things, which is obviously the discretion of the city manager and her departments, but operationally making sure that they're operating correctly. The second is investing in fleet. So when we had the last storm, what how this all transpired, is I went down to the fleet center down on Central Parkway, and I was asking the the old DPS director, I noticed a lot of trucks were down. I just asked him a question, how many trucks are down? And he told me the number. How many do you have total? And I was like, that's a quarter of your trucks, which is really remarkable. And I think once we realized how much that was, then we're like, Alright, we have to invest. So I put forward a motion and it passed to add a million dollars for fleet from what was the carryover to make sure that we're taking care of having the fleet necessary. And the last thing, I think, is we need to look at, you know, what's the right staffing model? Because we're not Minneapolis or Buffalo that sees constant, very predictable snow. We don't want to staff up and then there's no snow. And then you have a bunch of people sitting around. But on the other hand, you have to make sure that you have flexible staffing in the case that we do have a massive snow storm, that we can manage it. So those types of things are important to understand.
Host: Shifting focus, there are a lot of people in the community that are concerned about crime. There's been national attention on it. How do you think City Council should work to reduce crime and also address the public perception of crime?
Mark Jeffreys: Yeah, I mean, there's obviously the short and long term on this. I think short term very clearly we need more officers. To be clear, we have authorized 2x more officers in the last four years than the previous four years. So we're authorizing a lot. It's a challenge to recruit a lot of officers. We also actually had the highest pay raise for our police officers in 40 years, not because we're like good people, but because we have to retain and recruit the best. And so we do need more officers. That's a part of it. The other is giving them the tools for crime fighting. So the new drones, I think, are an important tool, and they'll now cover 97% of the city, making sure that we have appropriate lighting cameras, et cetera, downtown. I do think that the curfew is a part of it, and we can certainly talk a lot more. But then the other piece are other contributors. So we do need to invest in kids, invest in we had rec at night, invest in youth jobs, things like that, to keep make sure that kids, especially in summer, have productive outlets so they're not just, you know, idle and they get into trouble. The other piece is making sure that we're dealing with the contributors of crime. So this past year, we passed an ordinance, which I put forward for a vacant building registry, which will eliminate the 2,100 vacant buildings. A lot of those are blight. It's not fair to do the neighbors who are property owners, but they're also contributors to crime. So it's obviously a hugely complex issue. We need all of these things combined. It's not certainly police only. The police will tell you can't police your way out of it. So all of these things we have to invest in all appropriately.
Host: Well, you mentioned $5.4 million has already been sort of invested there. You guys approved that, I think, two weeks ago. So the drones that you mentioned, some of the police overtime and stuff will come out of that funding. Where? Where does the rest of the funding come from?
Mark Jeffreys: Yeah, I mean, we're already investing, like, a million dollars in career pathways for kids, for example. I put forward a an effort to fund the Building Futures Program for voters, for people, listeners, on the on the line. The Building Futures basically helps more adults find jobs in the building trades, you know, which you know that that we're funding with, with the FLCIO and urban leagues, which is, which is huge, right? How can we and you have people who are literally homeless, who didn't have driver's licenses, and now they have a job as a plumber or electrician or whatnot. So we have to continue to invest in those things, which we are so to your point of, where does the money come from? We are doing several of those things. We have to continue to double down on them.
Host: You mentioned the curfew rules and the Red Bike rules. They limited the hours on that, restricting food trucks downtown. Are those in your estimation, working? Are they the right choices?
Mark Jeffreys: Well, you know what I'd say on the curfew. I do think the curfew is a right choice. I
have four kids. I don't think kids should be out at midnight wandering around, and I think it's in their interest to make sure that they are safe, to make sure that they're back home. So I was I did vote for that and supported it. We're not criminalizing kids, but saying, hey, look, you need to make sure that you're safe. I've been very public that I'm actually not supportive of the restrictions on Red Bike and food trucks. I think we should look at food trucks having food truck zones if the issue is concerned about regulating folks around them, so you can have a zone where CPD can know where they're focusing. And Red Bikes, frankly, I think, could be used as a tool to catch people. So we know who is on that Red Bike. You know, they signed up, and there's a name associated with that person. And therefore, if you know that that Red Bike was used, or three or four Red Bikes were out, and there were some car break ins in this area, then you can narrow it down. And in fact, in Northside and College Hill, there's a gentleman who was lighting a bunch of flags on and the fire, like on people's porches.
Host: Oh, yes, setting flags on fire.
Mark Jeffreys: Exactly. And you know how they caught him was because he was on a Red Bike. So they identified him because they saw there was a Red Bike on a camera, and then they tracked down who had rented a Red Bike around that time, and that's how they caught him. So I think there are different approaches to that, where we can come together and make sure we're all in the same objective, which is safety in these areas, but maybe a different approach.
Host: What do you feel is the most important issue facing the city.
Mark Jeffreys: You know, look, I mean, obviously public safety and housing are important, but I think the most important issue is our budget. It's not sexy, but the reality is, if we don't have a strong fiscal strength in our budget, then we're not going to be able to fund public safety, we're not going to be able to fund affordable housing, we're not going to fund all these things. So I think the public needs to understand that that going forward is going to be critical.