2016 Community Engagement Survey Results Office of Councilmember Chris Seelbach June 2016 Community Budget Survey

Goal “To engage and listen to the citizens of Cincinnati on how taxpayer dollars best reflect their values and priorities.”

Demographics Responses from every Cincinnati Zip code Outreach via mail, meida coverage, , social media Roughly 1,500 Cincinnatians participated in the survey

City Public Safety Services B Seelbach’s takeaway: Overall, good work by our Public Safety deparments

City Parks & Community Spaces C+ Seelbach’s takeaway: Room to improve, particularly outside of Downtown & OTR

City Corporate Tax Incentives C Seelbach’s takeaway: Residents see too much focus on big incentives

City Public Transportation Services D+ Seelbach’s takeaway: Need regional plan for County funding to improve Metro bus service

City Infrastructure and Roads D+ Seelbach’s takeaway: Continue to invest in roads & infrastructure (bridges, steps, sidewalks, water works). Perhaps fix old roads before building new ones.

City Job Creation & Small Business Support Services C Seelbach’s takeaway: We can offer better support to the little guy, and focus more on job training & creation for small businesses

City Historic Building Preservation Services C Seelbach’s takeaway: Have not done enough to protect and promote our historic assets

City Health & Human Services C Seelbach’s takeaway: Continue to invest in the Health Department and boost our Human Services Funding

NBDIP Funding Current budget has over $30 million in neighborhood spending decided by Mayor/Manager/Council. Perhaps increasing NBDIP would give neighborhoods more control.

Is there a specific service you feel is always underfunded by the City? Road and bridge maintenance and repair. Trash litter pickup and street cleaning in the neighborhoods Health and Human Services, Parks Public safety Public transportation is a necessity to keep the Tri-State positioned for a functional region that is ecologically sustainable. Cincinnati has a very visible homeless and panhandling community that seems to be ignored. Every street corner, intersection, parking lot, etc is unwelcoming to our visitors and residents because of this issue. From a humanity perspective, it needs to be addressed to ensure the safety of the homeless community. From a business perspective, it needs to be addressed to ensure those visiting our city are welcomed by the beautiful landscape and not a homeless person banging on their car window. Police need to trim the fat and let other departments get the funds for once. …

Additional Comments/Suggestions Please do everything possible to address the Brent Spence Bridge. The public safety departments are certainly well-funded, but not well-distributed based on population and need. District 5 police in particular are too heavily concentrated around the university areas and perceived "highest-crime" areas, which do not always align with the actual highest-crime areas The metro system is vastly improved from a decade or so ago, and I support continuing to expand public transport times and routes as well as adding more trains and bike lanes. make the city more welcoming to animal transportation - horses, mules, oxen, etc.... I appreciate being asked for my input as a citizen.