Fox on the Issues

With God All Things are Possible

Our State motto underscores a fundamental truth. I believe that God’s role in our affairs should be acknowledged and respected. When I became President of the County Commission, I instituted the practice of opening all Commission meetings with prayer. Ministers of all faiths are invited to open our meetings with prayer. There are forces in America who are actively waging a war against God. They are dedicated to abandoning our founding values and principles. Each of us has a duty to celebrate our Nation’s rich spiritual tradition. Court Reform

We need to open the courts up to the public and put an end to closed-door justice.We believe that there is an urgent need to change the way our family courts do business. They need to be more open and accountable to the public and the people they serve. Four basic reforms are needed. First, the parties involved in judicial proceedings should have a right to be present at those proceedings. Second, parties should have a right to have a record made of those proceedings and have easy access to their records. Third, the Courts need to be more aggressive in enforcing their court orders. And, finally, people who lie and falsify testimony or documents should be punished and held accountable.

Commissioner Fox's expose' of Butler County's court system, the report titled, "A Culture of Secrecy, Fear and Judicial Abuse", is available to be downloaded or read. If you have a high speed internet connection, and want to view the entire 687 page document click here for the complete report. The report is formatted in Adobe Acrobat. To get the Adobe Acrobat Reader, click the icon below to download. You will need to click the back button on your browser to return to this page.

Holding the Line on Spending

We have held the line on spending and are doing more with less. Butler County remains one of the most fiscally conservative counties in Ohio. The county is one of the lowest cost-per-capita governments in the state, and 84 counties have a sales tax rate higher than ours. Since 1995 we have shrunk the size of county government, actually reducing the number of employees working under the direct control of the Commissioners by 42 and saving more than $2 million annually in salaries and benefits. While the population of our county grew 8%, the number of employees working for the Commissioners has been cut by 13.5% since 1995 and will be further reduced to 15.7% below 1995 levels in the next budget cycle.

Transportation

We have improved our transportation infrastructure, building the Union Center Boulevard Interchange in West Chester and the Michael A. Fox Highway connecting Hamilton to Interstate 75, and we are working to build the Liberty Center Interchange.

The Union Center Interchange created 7,000 new jobs and added several hundred million dollars in business and commercial property to the Lakota School district, easing the property tax burden on homeowners.

The Fox Highway directly benefited homeowners by adding $600 million dollars in value to property of those living within a half mile strip the length of the Fox highway, and it provides an economic development lifeline to Hamilton. The highway increased home values significantly - the average value of a residential property in the affected area increased by more than 50% from 1995 (before the highway was there) until 2002, after the highway was built.

Jobs and Economic Development

We have greatly improved Butler County’s ability to compete for high-tech jobs by building a 120-mile fiber optic network in partnership with Miami University and private businesses. This makes Butler County one of the leading counties in the nation in providing a high-tech infrastructure to attract good jobs and promote economic development.

Our efforts have been recognized nationally. For three years in a row, Forbes Magazine has listed Butler County among the top 100 places to grow a business in America.

Since Mike’s appointment to the County Commission in 1997, Butler County has added 20,800 new jobs to our economy. That’s more new jobs than all of the new jobs added in Hamilton, Montgomery, Preble, and Warren counties combined, and Butler County ranked second among all Ohio counties in new job creation for the period. Only Franklin County (Columbus) had more job growth, as Butler County created one of each nine net new jobs in the state. The Commissioners are committed to creating new jobs for our residents, and our efforts are paying off.

Preserving Greenspace and Balancing Growth

We need to fight against the pressures of unrestrained growth. Butler County’s future should not be a future where our beautiful farm land and greenspace is chewed up by countless subdivisions. We need to make sure that the growth is balanced. This means planning for greenspace, preserving our heritage, and working with local officials to control the rate of growth so that our infrastructure is able to support the growth.

Partnerships with Local Governments

We have invested in our cities, working with Middletown officials to contribute $3 million dollars to the revitalization of downtown Middletown.

As a Legislator, I sponsored the legislation to fund the initial efforts to build the Government Services Building in downtown Hamilton. As a Commissioner, I worked with my colleagues and the City of Hamilton to complete the project. It has been a center piece of downtown revitalization for Hamilton.

We have worked in partnership with our township trustees to fund community projects throughout Butler County, improving the quality of life in rural areas.

Law Enforcement

As the son of a policeman and a former law enforcement officer I know the importance of getting criminals off the streets. We made our community safer by building a new jail, giving our police officers and Courts the tools and support they need to take criminals off the street.

Health Care

We are helping our residents deal with the rising cost of health care by establishing the first county program in the United States to assist our residents in obtaining access to low-cost prescription medications. Butler County residents who are struggling to make ends meet because of oppressive medical costs are being given some relief from those pressures because of our program.

Children and Families

We are fighting to support and protect our children and families, becoming the first county in Ohio, and as far as we know, the first in the nation to publish the names of those who owe child support and are not paying. According to state records, no metropolitan county in the state has a higher collection rate of arrearages than we do - we are the best. No County in Ohio has received more awards for innovative practices than we have.

I pushed to reform the way the Butler County Children Services agency does its business. Today it is more open and accountable. The creation of an agency ombudsman gives a new and unprecedented level of oversight to insure that the interests of children and families are protected.

I provided the leadership to hold an annual Commissioner's conference on children and families. This conference brings to Butler County some of the nation's most prominent experts on family and children's issues. It is the only program of it's kind sponsored by county government in Ohio.

Utilities

We reduced the cost of water to our county customers, reaching a settlement in the water contract dispute between the City of Hamilton and the county, the agreement saves our ratepayers more than $35 million dollars over the life of the contract, lowering the rates to our customers by 12%, giving us flexibility to buy lower-cost water from other sources and freeing the county from the burden that national experts described as one of the worst water contracts in the nation.

Greenspace Parks and Recreation

We are investing in green space and parks for Butler County families. Working in partnership with the Butler County MetroParks Board we are developing the Voice of America park project in West Chester Township. We are also working to develop an outdoor drama and entertainment complex in the Fairfield and Liberty Township areas.

Paid for the Citizens for Fox Committee, Madge Burton, Treasurer, 3577 Lanes Mill Rd., Oxford, OH 45056