League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area Education Fund
	Hamilton County, OH November 3, 2009 Election
	Candidates Answer Questions on the Issues Council Member; City of Saint Bernard; Ward 1

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area and asked of all candidates for this office.     See below for questions on Qualification, Priorities, Economic, Rental property Click on a name for candidate information.   See also more information about this contest. 1. What are your Qualifications for Office? (50 word limit) Answer from John E. Metz: I have the education, experience and social contacts to bring the citizens together, while keeping an eye on the future needs of the city and its residents. 2. What plans do you have to address your top three priorities? (100 word limit) Answer from John E. Metz: I want to evaluate spending in each of the departments of the city to find ways to more efficiently run those departments in conjunction with the members of those departments. The employees and leaders of each department have the experience to evaluate their ongoing requirements to safely execute their mission efficiently. This will allow us to minimize the spending today to bring a brighter tomorrow. I will support efforts by the CIC and the administration to bring in the businesses and people to make St. Bernard better today and into the future. 3. What two actions would you promote to enhance city revenue or decrease city expenditures in order to balance the city budget, given the current economic conditions? (100 word limit) Answer from John E. Metz: While we have been fortunate to have sufficient funds for our ongoing needs, we still need to be wary of spending every dime that comes in. I will support the CIC in developing available properties to enhance the business we have and to bring productive, tax paying businesses in to the city. Again, an ongoing evaluation of spending today will allow us to save money today for expenditures tomorrow! 4. What steps should the local government take to ensure that the quality of rental property meets minimum legal standards? (100 word limit) Answer from John E. Metz: We have a HIP program and Inspector, who needs to continue to do the good job he has been doing in encouraging owners to maintain their property. When necessary we need to continue to utilize all the laws we have to enforce that. Responses to questions asked of each candidate are reproduced as submitted to the League.  Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. Word limits apply for each question. Direct references to opponents are not permitted. The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.