Reconstructing
Dayton

We are an organization dedicated to and in support of practical, common-sense solutions for Montgomery County and the Greater Dayton area. We believe Montgomery county issues are Dayton issues and vice-versa, and that issues can only be solved through close collaboration across the region.

Our solutions are non-partisan, and seek to find common ground on both sides. Any candidate who makes producing results their priority over party or political careerism is an automatic ally of Reconstructing Dayton.

Culture of Corruption? Try Paying Officials More.

Dec 2, 2020 | Corruption

Recently, Cincinnati councilman P.G. Sittenfeld was arrested for soliciting and accepting bribes. He is the third Cincinnati council member to be arrested for corruption this year, and the FBI has declared Cincinnati, like Dayton, has a "culture of corruption." This...

A Petition to Change Dayton’s Local Elections

Nov 16, 2020 | Election Reform, Initiatives

We are starting a petition to bring ranked-choice voting to Dayton’s local elections. This will get rid of the primary elections and get all the voting over with at a single general election. These changes are needed to make our local elections more fair and to make things easier on voters. There is currently a national push to move to ranked-choice voting. We can be leaders in this effort by bringing it to Dayton. Please provide input and help us to get the final draft passed!

Thoughts on Unifying Dayton

Nov 13, 2020 | Cities in Montgomery County, Regionalism, Townships in Montgomery County

We look possible mergers that could better unify the Dayton region. Riverside, Harrison Township, Trotwood, Moraine, and Oakwood are examined as candidates that would mutually benefit from merging with the city of Dayton. Fragmentation is the enemy of efficiency, which explains why governance in the Dayton region is so inefficient. Currently, it’s very unlikely that any of these mergers would occur because they would reduce the number of politicians, who will never vote themselves out of a job. The people are going to have to demand it.

Regional Cooperation

Our ultimate goal is county-wide government, reducing the number of public safety departments to one, street maintenance to one, etc. County collections of taxes will be distributed based on span of control calculations, with those with the widest spans getting the most bonus money. We believe that consolidating services county-wide will result in increased efficiency that will decrease the tax-burden on Montgomery County citizens. Read more…

the plan

On the Issues

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Fair Property Tax

The value of your property shouldn’t change based on the value of your neighbors’ property. The price you pay should be the price your property is valued at. Forcing people out of their homes because of rising valuation is discriminatory. Anyone who keeps up the exterior of their home shouldn’t be penalized for improvements. Gentrification shouldn’t be a government assisted program. Read more…

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Ranked-Choice Voting

We elect politicians using primaries that no one shows up to and give the two major political parties all the power. It’s time to change the way we elect officials and ensure they represent everyone. Ranked-choice voting brings compromise, efficiency, and fairness to elections. Maine has adopted ranked-choice voting and we can, too. Read more…

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Borders that Make Sense

You wouldn’t buy a house with a living room divided by a property line. Why do we have cities that sprawl into multiple counties, congressional districts shaped like crescents, and cities with territories outside their boundaries like miniature imperial states? It’s about time we redrew our boundaries so maps correlate to economic and geographic realities.

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Fair Tax Abatement

Tax abatement has often been used to reward political donors and friends rather than spur economic development. We believe that tax abatement should be standardized by a specific rubric that disallows politicians from arbitrarily picking winners and losers. Tax abatement should be used to incentivize businesses to join the Dayton community, not as a kickback for political allies.

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Support of Non-Traditional Candidates

Support in getting signatures, ballot initiatives and fair ballot access for all who support our causes. We’ll also help create websites, manage campaigns, and help promote those who agree to campaign finance limits.

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Honest & Accessible Political Contributions

The current Montgomery County Board of Elections site is not ADA compliant. There is no searchable database of donors. In order for this to be both ADA compliant, transparent, and actually useful, all data should be entered in real time in a searchable format. Read more….

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Education Reform

Sure, the public schools are working in our well to do communities, but in the poorer districts, we’re failing. The State funding formula was ruled unconstitutional over 20 years ago. We’re still failing. It’s time to radically change the way we look at the conventional school year, and the many systems we have in place.

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Eliminate Unfair Business Regulations

This isn’t the free parking pool in Monopoly, individual home rules have their limits. Limiting medical marijuana outlets is unfair to those that have medical needs. This is only one example of discriminatory and random legislation.

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