Full Biography for Phil Heimlich

Candidate for
Council Member; City of Cincinnati

Mr. Heimlich graduated with distinction from Stanford University in 1975. He earned a J.D. from the University of Virginia Law School in 1979 and was admitted to the Ohio State Bar and Federal Bar that year.

Mr. Heimlich served as an Assistant Hamilton County Prosecutor for nine years, specializing in the criminal prosecution of felony cases, including murder, rape, robbery, assault and white collar offenses.

Mr. Heimlich was elected on November 2, 1993, to Cincinnati City Council. He was the first candidate to be elected to City Council on his first run for public office. He is currently serving his third term in office.

Mr. Heimlich's accomplishments on City Council since November '93 include:

· Working to improve education:

- Co-chaired the Children's Scholarship Fund (CSF), a private voucher program which raised $2 million for low-income students. Awarded 500 students with four-year scholarships to be used at the school of their choice.

- Applied as a developer to the State Board of Education to establish four charter schools in Cincinnati. The State School Board approved the new charters on 4/13/99.

- Riverside Academy, which will open for the 1999-2000 school year, will focus on the basics: reading, writing, arithmetic and character development. Heimlich's school will emphasize strong discipline and teach values like honesty, responsibility and self-control.

· Adding 119 additional police officers to the streets of Cincinnati from 1994 -1998. Over this period, violent crime has been reduced 46 percent.

· Implementing a teen curfew to protect our youth and our community.

· Installing five safety cameras in neighborhood business districts. In one community, Evanston, crime is down 82 percent in the camera's viewing area since it was installed.

· Enacting a Parental Responsibility ordinance that holds parents of juvenile offenders accountable for their children's crimes. Council unanimously approved making this a permanent law on 4/28/99.

· Introducing a property tax rollback to prevent an unvoted property tax increase

· Only member of Council to vote against $14.5 million in additional spending in 1999-2000 budget which included funding for a beauty school and a children's health club.

· Leading the campaign for direct election of the mayor beginning in 2001, which was approved by the voters in May, 1999.

· Enacting the rapid indictment program, which is saving the city and county over $2 million per year, while protecting victims of crime.

· Rewriting the Cincinnati building code to cut red tape and make the process for building and rehabbing property user friendly.

· Passing a daytime curfew to make sure kids are not hanging out on the streets during school hours.

· Enacting sexually oriented business restrictions to limit strip clubs, nude dancing services, and other adult entertainment to areas reserved for heavy industry. Before this legislation was passed, these businesses could set up anywhere in Cincinnati.

· Creating a crime abatement district for Over-the-Rhine that excludes people from the neighborhood arrested for drug/prostitution crimes.

· Enacting a Customer Service Program. Includes adding a "Business Expediter" with the power to cut through red tape for business projects and the authority to lobby for legislative changes, a customer service desk to answer phone inquiries and walk-in requests, and a "Mystery Citizen" program where trained shoppers apply for permits and other help from the city to evaluate the service of each department.

· Introducing a 311 proposal that would decrease the number of non-emergency calls to our 911 system, and giving a central number for residents to obtain information on city departments and/or events.

· Conducting a year-long investigation of city-owned and operated asphalt plant. As a result of the study, the asphalt plant was closed saving the city $1.5 million in one-time improvements and $70,00 annually.

· Introducing managed competition, which could lead to savings of over $20 million per year, by allowing private companies to compete to operate city services.