The 2017 Cincinnati Endorsements List
The Hamilton County Green Party is recommending that Green Party supporters “bullet” vote for these 4 candidates to increase the power of their individual votes. If you vote for a “full slate” which includes candidates that you don’t really support, you are reducing the power of your vote to elect the candidates you really want since they are all running against each other for the final vote count.
The rest of the information about the 2017 election was written by Gwen Marshall, Hamilton County Green Party co-chair
The Hamilton County Green Party’s Central Committee recommends a yes vote on issues #3-5 as follows:
3 PROPOSED TAX LEVY (RENEWAL) HAMILTON COUNTY for the purpose of SUPPLEMENTING THE GENERAL FUND TO PROVIDE FUNDS FOR THE ALCOHOL, DRUG ADDICTION AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES DISTRICT FOR THE OPERATION OF MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAMS AND THE ACQUISITION, CONSTRUCTION, RENOVATION, FINANCING, MAINTENANCE AND OPERATION OF MENTAL HEALTH FACILITIES 4 PROPOSED TAX LEVY (RENEWAL) HAMILTON COUNTY.
4 A renewal of a tax for the benefit of the County of Hamilton, Ohio, for the purpose of SUPPLEMENTING THE GENERAL FUND TO PROVIDE HEALTH AND HOSPITALIZATION SERVICES, INCLUDING UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL.
5 PROPOSED TAX LEVY (RENEWAL AND INCREASE) HAMILTON COUNTY SUPPLEMENTING THE GENERAL FUND TO PROVIDE OR MAINTAIN SENIOR CITIZENS SERVICES OR FACILITIES, INCLUDING A SYSTEM OF HOME CARE.
We did not recommend positions on any local / municipal issues – in part because we could not reach agreement or just didn’t really have the inside information to make a recommendation valuable:
For example – issue 24, the Cincinnati Public School renewal for the general operating fund. There was a distinct disagreement in opinion on this matter between those who are disproportionally paying for the levy (ex Senior Citizens who own their own homes which have gone up in value and is not tax abated) as opposed to those who only had a relatively small financial outlay (tax abated homeowners and renters who have school aged children in the Cincy Public Schools). While it is true that this renewal will actually decrease the tax burden on a $100,000 home by about $10 a year, it is also true that unabated $100,000 property owners are paying at least $300- $400 a year more for school taxes in the City of Cincinnati compared to the most expensive school districts in Hamilton County. This could be because too many Cincinnati properties are tax abated or it could be because of the over paid, bloated Cincy Public School bureaucracy that keeps the funds from our tax dollars from really getting to the classrooms and students like it should. There are a lot of economic problems in the suburbs and special needs children who are getting a lot of expensive services there too. Bottom line, the Hamilton County Central Committee members who attended and stayed for the discussion at our October 19, 2017 meeting voted to not take a position on this issue and assume that our members are able to come to their own conclusions, we just ask that you vote.
Regarding the City Council and School Board endorsed list: We are asking that you support this list and not vote for more than the candidates you really do support because if you vote for candidates you think are only OK you may end up that you are voting against your preferred candidates if the vote is close.
The Hamilton County Green Party didn’t endorse anyone who was already endorsed by another political party which is part of why we didn’t endorse in the mayor’s race. In our discussions, it came down to those who prefer Ms. Simpson also support the expansion of the Street Car, whereas those who think that shoring up the Cincinnati Pension Fund and the city’s financial health related to the pension issue are more important than the street car are supporting Mayor Cranley for re-election.
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