Justin Jeffre For Cincinnati City Council

Endorsed by the Southwest Ohio Green Party! We Deserve a Cleaner, Greener, and Greater Cincinnati I'm proud to be endorsed by the Green Party because I believe that good environmental policy is good economic policy 100%. You show me a polluter and I'll show you a subsidy. One of the most basic things we all share in common is the air we breathe and the water we drink. We deserve tougher environmental justice legislation with real teeth in order take a bite out of the crimes against our environment, human health and economy. In the Free market people should pay to dispose of their waste: we can no longer afford to have our air and water continue to be an unregulated,

Cincinnati City Council

2007

subsidized dumping ground. Our community pays the costs in increased health care cost and lowered quality of life. We must monitor and fine major polluters. Improving transportation: We've got to get more creative about how we move people around in our city and make improving our transit system a top priority. Innovative transportation solutions are appearing across the country

and I believe we must look beyond what's currently being discussed. Cincinnati is currently lagging far beyond other great cities in the area of mass transit. We live in a global market, and we must remain competitive. Improving transportation is good for our economy, environment and our quality of life.

The Environment! Good environmental policy is good economic policy 100% of the time. Show me a polluter, and I’ll show you a subsidy!

Clean Elections: Campaign Finance Reform is too important to be left to politicians. We need election reform that makes government more accountable, elections more meaningful, and that encourages more participation in the political process. Instant Run Off Voting (IRV) and Proportional Representation (PR) will empower voters, encourage more participation and save us money.

Putting People First! Government is supposed to be of the people, for the people, by the people. Not of the special interests, for the career politicians, by the corporate lobbyists. Campaign Finance reform is too important to be left to politicians. CEOs should pay their fair share of the tax burden on their stock options.

Planned Progress for a Sustainable Future

Open and Transparent Government

If we had more jobs, we'd have less crime. Crime is merely a symptom of the growing cancer in our community and that is poverty. Our safest communities don't have police on every street corner because education and economic development have been effective. Busy streets are safe streets. A New Deal: We need more inclusive economic development that lifts all boats and makes this historic river town a destination location once again. Downtown Cincinnati can be a more family friendly environment with a vibrant entertainment district that makes the core of our region more safe. The past fumbling over the Banks has distracted us from developing other important areas like Broadway Commons and our 22 miles of historic and scenic river front. Small business is the life blood of any sustainable economy. Their success is rooted in their relationship to the local community. We must streamline the process and encourage their growth.

We can no longer afford to give away special tax breaks and handouts to corporations that don't give us the good returns on our investments that are promised. Our community deserves tougher living wage and claw back protections that ensure that our tax dollars aren't subsiding poverty wages.

Backroom deals, the lack of discussion, and media complicity with arrangements between business and government have proved very costly. Beyond the financial costs, these practices have left the citizens alienated from their own government. The city government should encourage a real understanding of municipal finances and other questions. Municipal officers should make a more concerted attempt to keep the existing television, radio and newsprint media thoroughly briefed. However, market forces place serious limits on the willingness and ability of these commercial media to offer in-depth access and analysis. For this reason, the new information technologies will provide a far more reliable means of communication and government. Expanding informational technologies opens new opportunities to encourage the informed and interested citizenry in the production of its own sources of information and analysis. We plan to encourage this new media because it allows for both greater diversity and deeper analysis than commercial media has been able to deliver. It not only allows for information to be conveyed but for feedback to be solicited, registered, and have meaning. Without open and transparent government there can be no accountability.

*Campaign finance reform is too important to be left to politicians! Real estate companies, construction firms, and other businesses invest heavily in electing their representatives to government, but government and its policies should put people and the long-term public good first. *People are the source of this city's prosperity and progress. The best way to encourage local prosperity is to get more money invested into circulation through higher wages and incomes. The Living Wage Initiative of the AFLCIO points in the right direction. *Education and job training can build a work force with the skills that can make it irresistible to businesses considering a long-term investment in our community. *The city should take all appropriate actions to ensure that groups historically excluded from full participation in our society can do so more fully.

Equality! All members of our community are entitled to their civil rights in full, regardless of class, race, gender, or sexual preference. Basic human decency should not be controversial in any civilized society.