League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area Education Fund
Hamilton County, OH November 8, 2011 Election
	Gayle Ficken-Clarke Answers Questions Candidate for Member Council; City of Wyoming

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of the Cincinnati Area and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

1. What are your qualifications for office?

Being successful at team work and problem solving were essential to worklife at P&G. Eighteen years of horticultural and environmental experience taught me ecological solutions are longer lasting and cost effective. Volunteering long-term in Wyoming and locally, I developed contacts and relationships that will make me an effective Council Person.

2. What services do you believe should be considered basic and essential for the City?

Research has tied the availability of interactive green spaces to lower crime rates, better air quality, and healthy physical and psychological development of children. To have a truly livable city, we need to add green community spaces where people of all ages can experience nature. Maintaining residents' safety with effective, well-trained police and fire departments is crucial to the quality of life in Wyoming and is very successfully deployed here, but I believe that citizens' safety and quality of life could be improved by expanding pedestrian infrastructure and destinations.

3. How would you balance the City Budget?

I would look to local large business as a model for effective cost-control measures. First, we should identify our core values and assess how competently they are being addressed. If there are discrepancies between the core values and our ability to support them, a service should be out-sourced. Next, we should identify energy inefficiencies and create alternative energy plans, before continually rising energy costs force us to curtail important services, or place the burden on the taxpayer.

4. What actions will you take to support clean air?

Only one action is completely under our control for improving air quality: the existence and expansion of a large and healthy tree canopy throughout the city. According to experts, trees absorb 2.6 tons of carbon dioxide per acre yearly. They produce oxygen, and absorb other pollutants such as carbon monoxide, ozone and sulfur dioxide. Trees reduce energy consumption by cooling in warm weather. The presence of trees reduces storm water runoff to reduce energy consumption in sewage treatment. Careful maintenance of existing trees and skillful planting and care of new trees will preserve Wyoming's environment for the future.

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: September 12, 2011 17:45
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