League of Women Voters of Ohio Education Fund
Hamilton County, OH November 8, 2005 Election
	James T. O'Reilly Answers Questions Candidate for Council Member; City of Wyoming

Questions & Answers

1. What are your Qualifications for Office? (50 word limit)

Have served 2 years on Council, and 2 years on OKI working on I-75 upgrades. Longtime volunteer participant in county and region. Formerly headed Wyoming Solid Waste Commission. Taught government law at UC for 25 years. Active member of county boards and participant in task forces like COMPASS.

2. What plans do you have to address your top three priorities? (100 word limit)

1. Continue to closely examine budgets to prioritize real service needs
2. Examine savings potential of dropping the county stormwater taxing district, saving future Wyoming residents from wasteful county spending and mismanaged county plans since Wyoming will get little benefit for large homeowner taxes imposed in future years
3. Build on statewide "First Suburbs" experiences to preserve funding of local capital needs. Having spent 9 hours at state budget hearings, I am better prepared to advocate for capital cost-sharing needed to bring our streets up to Wyoming levels of quality and appearance.

3. What steps would you take to ensure that all public facilities are accessible to people with disabilities? (100 words limit)

My textbooks on safety in buildings and needs of elders taught me how real improvements can and should be accomplished. I will work to prioritize ADA compliance in our capital budgets.

4. What specific steps will you take to expand recycling services in your community? (100 words limit)

I'm proud that under my tenure as solid waste chair and since then, Wyoming recycling has consistently been tops in the county. Education such as our school posters and festival booths help expand participation. The key fiscal decision will be contract language with the 2005-7 recycling contract renewal and I plan to examine that contract carefully to assure that recycling opportunities expand here.

5. What steps would you take to provide affordable housing for all residents of your community? (100 words limit)

Affordable housing that is safe and well maintained is important to preserving our diversity as an open and receptive community. As the city's representative to OKI, I endorsed the affordable housing component of the land use planning recommendations made for our region by the regional council of governments.