Dear Voters

By Eve Bolton

Presently, the Hamilton County government is unaccountable. This lack of accountability is a direct result of a governing culture rooted in partisanship, patronage, and special interes

Let's face it, Hamilton County can't be efficient as long as only one party controls virtually all the power. A one party government is destined for failure. It's a failure in Cleveland, Moscow and here at home. Democracy requires a loyal opposition that questions, challenges and, yes, competes with the dominant party. It is possible to achieve an accountable county government. In 1992, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to revitalize one county executive office, and its first democratic recorder in fifty years, I applied the basic principles of conscientious public service in all areas of management and frontline production.

These principles, when practiced and not just preached, liberated one county office from its infamous county culture. During my term I cut staff, increased profits, fully computerized the office, eliminated all back logs and achieved daily currency. These specific results were the product of a larger commitment to what my League of Women Voters' ninety-two year old mother calls "good government". My father, who served the City of Cincinnati for 48 years, simply called these basic principles "doing the right thing for the right reasons".

Perhaps it is because of my parents, or because of my students, that I have always valued the goal of good government and have always felt personally responsible to correct dysfunction in the public sector. I did it once, and would like to try again to rei