100+ days into a new City Council, as a City Councilman, I wanted to take an opportunity to share some of my focus areas that impact the North Avondale community. Right out of the gate, I have focused on issues that I heard repeatedly on the campaign trail: making our streets safer, cleaner, and more inviting.
We are reminded daily of the need to make sure our streets are safe for everyone as crashes continue to mount. In March, I held a Safer Streets Now forum in Avondale, which brought in local and national experts to address this issue. We identified several concrete solutions including curb extensions that are better and 10x cheaper than current solutions. The administration is now exploring how to roll these solutions out. As a down payment on solutions, in partnership with the Mayor, I proposed and City Council passed allocating $1,000,000 to pedestrian safety initiatives across the city including for curb extensions and speed cushions, both of which are proven to slow down traffic.
Our police also play a vital role in safety, which is why I asked the administration to report on the number of traffic citations over the past five years including by neighborhood and asked the Administration to report on how we can partner with State Highway Patrol to free-up CPD’s resources to address our most pressing public safety needs.
To combat littering—a stain on our beautiful city— I am also working with the administration and my colleagues to address the issue of illegal dumping and littering. I enjoy being a part of litter clean ups in neighborhoods, but we need more systemic solutions.While its early days on City Council, I believe we’re making progress in building a Cincinnati of opportunity where our residents can live in safe, vibrant neighborhoods. I would invite anyone to reach out to me any time with issues or concerns Mark.Jeffreys@cincinnati-oh.gov. I appreciate the opportunity to hear from residents, and to serve the people of Cincinnati.
Mark Jeffreys