Today at noon, Cincinnati City Council candidate, Grant Brock, held his first live press conference. It was held at Xavier University’s Clocktower Lounge and was the first press conference from any of the three candidates. The event was met with mixed reactions.
First to take the podium was Peter Korchak, the leader of the Hamilton County Democratic Party. Korchak announced that he would be endorsing the Brock campaign. As the official nominee of the Democratic Party, Brock will receive additional funding. Korchak declined to disclose the exact amount of money, but it will give the Brock campaign an important boost.
In his speech, Brock mentioned four issues that he hopes to address, the opioid crisis, transportation, education, and the environment. He wants to expand the city’s current needle exchange program with three more locations and longer operating hours. Additionally, Brock believes that opening more publicly-funded rehab centers will help combat Cincinnati’s opioid problem.
Brock also wants to expand public transportation and called it a critical part of his platform. He mentioned the production of more streetcars and installing a metro system using Cincinnati’s abandoned tunnels. Brock was asked whether he could connect the issue of homelessness with his transportation vision because many homeless people live in the tunnels. He admitted to the press that he was unaware of this fact, but that he still wants to curve the city’s homelessness problem.
The environment was another major concern in Brock’s press conference. As a city councilman, he would like to reduce Cincinnati’s carbon footprint. In order to do so, Brock wants to offer tax incentives to local businesses that do their part to help the environment.
He also directed much of his focus on education, and specifically public education. Brock hopes to raise teacher salaries in order to incentivize future educators. When asked where the money would come from for his education and transportation plans, he said he would like to increase taxes on businesses. This response was the cause of some confusion because Brock had just mentioned his idea of potential tax incentives for businesses.
To conclude the press conference, Brock responded to a question about marijuana. In his Facebook announcement video released on Friday, he said, “I plan on reducing crime by lowering drug sentencing, combating the opioid crisis, and legalizing marijuana.” However, it is not within the power of the City Council to pass drug legalization measures. When Brock was asked whether he knew this was the case, he responded by saying, “No, I was not aware of that.”
By most accounts, Brock’s first press conference was rocky and unpolished. Nonetheless, he communicated his vision to the electorate and expressed which issues matter to him the most.
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