As an endorsed Green candidate, many will stereotype me as a tax-and-spend liberal, magnified.  In reality, however, I am a fiscal conservative, and I think Cincinnati City Council and Hamilton County has shown inverted priorities in terms of its spending.  That's the number one reason I oppose the upcoming jail tax in November.

Todd Portune and David Pepper have shown a consistent disregard for the voter with their nearly a billion dollar outline for a plan, which they call "comprehensive" in some Orwellian campaign rhetoric.  However, instead of spending the past year really educating voters about their plan, they have constantly tried to slide this under the radar with special elections and then finally an imposition. 

Portune and Pepper have tried to play politics with this issue, attempting to appease the political right by building a new jail and attempting to appease the left with the promise of social programs.  However, the plan is too vaguely defined, we are left unsure that there really will be a significant increase in capacity, and no one knows what any of these alleged social programs will be specifically.  They tried to appeal to everyone, and they failed everybody.

The biggest slap in the face was their attempt to impose this tax without our voice.  I was proud to work with the NAACP, COAST, Cincinnati Progressive Action, No Jail Tax PAC, the Libertarians, the Greens and many other engaged citizens to collect the signatures needed to put this on the ballot.

I think the fight against the jail tax has shown how powerful grassroots politics can be when a broad political coalition joins forces for shared goals.  I remain open to such collaboration in the future.

 

Respectfully,

 

Justin Jeffre

 

Jeffre for Council