We sent the candidates a questionnaire asking about how they would improve the county, deal with spending and other issues.
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Today we will look at the race between Democrat Debbie Lieberman and former Dayton Mayor Republican Gary Leitzell. On Tuesday, we ran a QA with candidates Judy Dodge and Republican Robert Matthews. If you missed that, you can find it in our voters guide at vote.daytondailynews.com
Question: What can you do as a county commissioner to help grow the local economy and add jobs? What ideas do you have for attracting new jobs and investment?
Gary Leitzell: The City and County are actually doing a decent amount of job attraction and investment. Most of what we are seeing now in Dayton was initiated during my term as mayor.
What they are failing at is attracting new residents to fill those positions and occupy new housing. With 32,000 vacant structures currently in the county and 36,000 people projected to leave in the next 15 years, we have a population crisis.
We should be asking “Why are we building apartments at Austin Landing?” when it leaves empty housing in Vandalia, Kettering, Huber Heights, Riverside, Dayton and even Washington Township.
We can grow the local economy as soon as municipalities learn to work together and stop trying to improve their own situation off the backs of other local municipalities. This would be a local policy direction. Current leadership has no local policy direction. They pursue a national agenda that has no place in Montgomery County. I can direct fair policy to meet the needs of local government.
Debbie Lieberman: I advocated aligning and coordinating Montgomery County's Economic Development and Workforce Development. The two departments were reorganized under one director.
This has created the opportunity to set our community apart for site seekers and business investment. Montgomery County now offers Workforce services (training, recruitment, screening and pre-employment testing) to every possible job creator or investor.
By doing this, we are growing our economy and creating jobs. Fuyao Glass is but one example of the success of this program. I will continue to work with all our jurisdictions and the Dayton Development Coalition, keep investors focused on our unique assets and share our successful story to retain jobs and bring new investment.
Q: What would you do if elected to make life better for Montgomery County residents? What’s one idea you have for improving life for citizens?
Gary Leitzell: We must stabilize what we pay in local taxes. With loss of residents and continued expansion and development of green fields, with the need for new infrastructure, there will be an increased tax burden on the county residents. This year there are several income tax or real estate tax levies already on the ballot.
Almost everyone is complaining about the high real estate taxes they pay. The only ways to reduce this burden are to focus developer incentives around redevelopment of existing infrastructure and to increase local population on a daily basis.
We need to promote Montgomery County as a tourist destination. We need to attract more people to unique places like Germantown, the U.S. Air Force Museum and the Dayton arts scene. Visitors to the region may decide to take up residence and seek employment in the county.
Debbie Lieberman: I will continue to work every day to help bring high quality, living wage jobs to our community.
In my work with the Ex-Offender population, I can tell you that having a job is one of the most stabilizing factors in a person’s life. Everything else builds from that. We have a 4.7% unemployment rate in Montgomery County that I am very proud of.
However, there are many people who have dropped out of the job market (are not actively seeking work) that we must find creative solutions to help get them back to work.
Then we will see the overall economic prosperity that will benefit everyone. Strengthening our workforce is critical. I have been working on many different initiatives for individuals to succeed. One of those is Preschool Promise that I have championed on behalf of the county.
Why should voters care about this race? What’s at stake?
Gary Leitzell: Regardless how you feel about who is best qualified to be president of the United States, local elections will have a greater impact on your day to day existence. Locally, based on the above three issues the future of the local economy is at stake. The health of our citizens are at stake and the malnutrition and learning ability of many of our children are at stake.
Debbie Lieberman: Voters should care about outcomes. Voters care about a thriving economy, excellent workforce development and strong, caring human services. At stake are the health, safety and welfare of our community. I have a lifelong desire to be a part of the solution. Too many politicians today are about tearing each other down. I believe in people and I believe in investing in people and their future. I hope that is what everyone cares about.
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