I’m a Working Mom.

I was in the hospital giving birth when a Cincinnati City Councilmember was arrested on federal corruption charges. Weeks later, I was appointed as an interim replacement.

My kids are my purpose and they are my daily reminder of my priorities at City Hall - I’m running because I want EVERY child in Cincinnati to have a roof over their head, food on their table, a safe neighborhood to live, and equal opportunities for success.

My Council Committees:

Budget & Finance Committee

Public Safety & Governance Committee

Equitable Growth & Housing Committee

My Priorities on Council:

Basic Services: Local government’s #1 job is basic services. If we can’t get the little things right, we’ll never be prepared for the big things. We need paved roads, safe crosswalks, clean water, and fast response in emergencies.

Public Safety: I believe everyone deserves to live in a safe neighborhood. I have championed investment in pedestrian safety, more police and fire recruiting classes, stronger police-community relationships, and police officer mental health and wellness.

Fiscal Stability: I’m focused on fiscal stability, improving our debt rating by rebuilding our reserves, and tracking and measuring the return on investment on every dollar we spend. I supported setting aside stimulus funds and carryover funds to replenish our reserves.

Industrial Strategy: Intel has announced a $20 billion investment in two chip factories in Licking County, OH. The Honda and LG Energy Solution joint venture has announced a $3.5 billion EV battery plant in Fayette County, OH. These historic investments, combined with the passage of the bipartisan CHIPS act, gives Cincinnati the unique opportunity to compete for advanced manufacturing jobs for suppliers of these companies. This would bring higher paying jobs, build a middle class, and increase the city’s tax revenue.

Economic Opportunity: We need to invest in job creation and job growth, we need to build stronger relationships with city government and our entrepreneur community, and we need remove road blocks for MWBE businesses and empower them to grow.

Innovation and Sustainability: I created a city hackathon in partnership with Cintrifuse to create more problem-solving opportunities with the startup community. The first year, we tackled the city’s litter problem. One idea received a grant from Main Street Ventures and was accepted into Flywheel’s SustainableCincy Accelerator. Other ideas are being implemented with our partner, Keep Cincinnati Beautiful. The second hack will focus on the city’s recycling program and will take place in Spring 2023.

Affordable Housing: I believe our outdated zoning laws are holding us back from growth, investment, and our ability to address our housing shortage. Census data shows that over the last 10 years, Cincinnati grew by 12K residents, but lost 2K housing units. As the demand grows and the supply shrinks, the cost of housing is skyrocketing. We need to update our zoning laws to allow for more growth along our major arterial routes, public transit lines, and neighborhood business districts. This will naturally drive down the cost of multi-family housing, grow more walkable communities, and allow our city to create sustainable growth.

MSD and Flooding: Our infrastructure is old cannot handle the frequent, extreme storms we have in Cincinnati. Since 2004, MSD has spent $158 million on investigations, cleaning, claims, and its sewer backup prevention program. These are temporary fixes and not investments toward solutions. I have introduced a motion to do a cost analysis and begin implementing small, innovative infrastructure investments as we move forward with pedestrian safety projects throughout the city. These smaller steps (such as bioretention features, bioswales, urban rain gardens, soil cells, and additional permeable surfaces) are affordable, can be done over time, and will have an immediate impact taking the stress off our sewers.

Transparency and Anti-Corruption: I am the first Councilmember to ever file my entire campaign finance history electronically, so every contribution and expenditure is online in searchable format. I believe in transparency and will continue to find ways to act on that belief. I also proposed legislation that would ban Councilmembers and the Mayor from accepting campaign contributions for other elected offices while serving the city of Cincinnati. Council and Mayor have very low campaign finance limits while other offices do not. Keeping major dollars out of local government will help keep our priorities on what truly matters - Cincinnati.