Amberley Green

At the Candidate's Forum hosted by the Amberley Women's Forum, council candidates were asked the question "do you support multi-family housing?"  My answer then, and now, is that, with the proper zoning, developer and plan, multi-family housing on Amberley Green would be a good amenity to our current and future residents. We are a community with an aging population who have made it known that they would be very interested in luxury condos or lifestyle homes on Amberley Green. Also, the same kind of housing would appeal to young professionals. Built in the context of the mixed-use development recommended by the Amberley Long Range Planning Committee  and as part of a larger development that is safe and walkable, we would be adding value to our community by providing more choices for living.

This evening I attended a meeting of the First Suburbs Consortium, which I wrote about in an earlier post. The topic of housing happened to be addressed. One thing that the majority of older, built suburbs, such as Amberley, have in common, is a lack of available housing for our aging population. The advantage that Amberley has, over Blue Ash (where this is the MAIN issue of concern), is that we have available land for rectifying this situation. Luxury condos, lifestyle homes, or apartments featuring universal design features might be just what Amberley needs in order to attract new residents and keep empty-nesters in our community. At the request of the attendees, this issue will continue to be addressed and meetings are open to everyone. If you would like to be notified of the next meeting of First Suburbs, please let me know and I'll be happy to get you the information.

Keeping Tabs on Me

This upcoming election, I am fortunate that I am running without an opponent. Hopefully that means that residents are satisfied, or, at least, not dissatisfied, with my job performance over the last two years. I have tried to communicate with as many of you as I can about things in Amberley that I am working on or that I think residents should be made aware of. I could probably update this blog more often, but then I might run the risk of becoming more spam in your inbox.

The question was raised recently about why I am putting up campaign signs and communicating with voters during election season when I am running unopposed. The answer is simple: I cannot expect voters to vote for me simply because I don't have an opponent. In my opinion, I still have to earn your vote, and to earn your vote, I need to prove that I am still working hard for Amberley. In fact, I have to work harder than ever because given the current makeup of council, and probably into the near future, I will still be a "lone wolf" when it comes to pressing for improvements that would positively impact the quality of life for residents.

My priorities haven't changed in the two years I've served on council. For example, even though the Village has paid off Amberley Green, economic development is as important today as it was when I first took office. Fortunately, our ownership of this beautiful piece of property gives us the luxury of dictating what can be built there. Safe streets for pedestrians is also of high importance. Nothing happens overnight, but it is silly not to plan for future possibilities. I will continue to search for grants to pay for future planning, like the grant opportunity I brought to committee last week from Interact for Health. There was no support for applying for the grant, but part of being on council is to continue to bring forth issues that are of importance to residents whether there is support for them at this time or not. Trends change, opinions change. It's important to stay educated to trends and make sure Amberley does not become a dinosaur because it's much easier and less risky to ignore them.

I've always believed that the way a candidate runs their campaign tells voters a lot about the way they will serve. A candidate who works hard for your vote, communicates a well-thought out platform, engages their constituents, and takes advantage of public outreach opportunities like the League of Women Voters Smart Voter, The Cincinnati Enquirer, or ICRC, is a candidate who has researched the issues and wants the voters to know their positions.

The Amberley Village Women's Forum is conducting a candidate's forum at the home of Stacy Lefton this Wednesday, October 16th, from 7-9 PM. Please look for more information on Nextdoor where you can also find Stacy's contact information to RSVP.

Paid for by Wolf for Council, 600 Vine St. Cincinnati, OH 45202