 Jeff Berding is a fifth-generation Cincinnatian, born and raised in Westwood. One of ten children, he attended St. Catharine's Elementary School, St. Xavier High School, Miami University, and earned his MBA from Xavier University with honors. Jeff was elected to Cincinnati City Council in November 2005 in his first campaign for office. As a Cincinnati City Council Member, Jeff has focused his efforts on safety, neighborhood quality of life and government accountability.
Jeff worked closely with Leslie Ghiz, Sheriff Si Leis, and now the County Commissioners, to solve both the short-term and long-term jail crises.
Jeff has been a strong advocate of increasing police visibility, and successfully passed a budget that will bring over 60 additional officers to our streets during the next two years as well as budgeting $2.7 million in overtime funding to increase high visibility patrols.
Jeff worked with Laketa Cole to create a new coordinated Youth Violence and Gun Intervention Initiative to bring a comprehensive approach to juvenile crime on our streets.
Council approved Jeff's Chronic Nuisance Property Ordinance that targets landlords whose buildings have excessive police calls for service. Once a threshold has been met, the landlord is required to pay for all future police runs to that property, providing a financial incentive for landlords to resolve problems.
In 2006 Jeff co-authored a motion allocating $250,000 of unused property tax appraisal funds to be spent to reduce the backlog of public nuisance buildings ready for demolition. Jeff also worked to ensure that the 2007-2008 budget would include over $1 million new dollars for demolition, hazard abatement, and code enforcement, for a total of $3.3 million dollars.
Jeff authored and passed a motion restructuring the City demolition process for nuisance properties. The new method will cut City processing time from thirty days down to two.
Jeff authored and passed a motion directing the Administration to examine the International Code Council's Existing Building Code, Property Maintenance Code, Residential Code, and other various codes and provide recommendations on sections to adopt in order to strengthen the City of Cincinnati's existing building code.
Jeff worked with Chris Bortz to form the GO (Growth + Opportunity) Cincinnati Initiative, to create a long-overdue strategic plan for our City. It is our hope that this committee will lead the creation of a "neighborhood 3CDC" or "landbank" that will focus all of its efforts on demolition and revitalization in our neighborhoods.
Jeff authored and passed a motion providing funding and directing the Administration to work with Keep Cincinnati Beautiful to re-establish the Safe and Clean Neighborhood Fund, which will provide grants to neighborhoods for capital projects.
Jeff worked with Laketa Cole to create a new Youth Employment and Workforce Development strategy that supports programs that get young people off the street, and gives them job skills and a path for a hopeful future.
Jeff's "City Hall Works" initiative will ensure that citizens' tax dollars are being spent efficiently and effectively. Working with a consultant, the advisory committee reviewed government operations and made recommendations to the City Manager and Council to improve the structure of government and service delivery.
Jeff sponsored new legislation requiring that the City Manager undergo annual performance evaluations. He also helped draft the performance measures that guide the City Manager and Department heads, making them accountable to citizens.
Visit Jeff Berding's Web site at www.jeffberding.com |
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