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| Affiliation | Democratic |
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| Name | Todd B. Portune |
| Address |
Westwood, Ohio , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
August 14, 1958
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| Died | January 25, 2020
(61 years)
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| Contributor | ... |
| Last Modifed | David
Apr 22, 2022 07:48am |
| Tags |
Cancer -
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| Info | Former Cincinnati City Councilman. Currently a Hamilton County Commissioner.
Born in 1958, Todd Portune was raised in Cincinnati and Colerain Township. In 1976, Todd graduated from Colerain High School as National Merit Scholar and went on to study political science at Oberlin College in Ohio. He graduated from Oberlin in 1980 and was inducted into the college�s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1998.
Todd was accepted to law school at the University of Cincinnati, where he became president of the Student Bar Association, received Order of the Barristers honors and graduated in 1983. Upon graduation from law school, Todd worked for the law firm of Cohen, Todd, Kite & Stanford in the area of civil rights and later Kentucky mineral law. Named both a Kentucky Colonel and a Duke of Hazard, Ky., Todd has been a 20 year practicing attorney and recently has provided professional services on behalf of the Inclusion Network - a non-profit advocacy agency for people with disabilities.
In January, 1993, Todd was appointed to Cincinnati City Council and was elected thereafter to four separate terms on Council. As a Cincinnati City Council member, Todd was instrumental in creating the nationally recognized River Quality Index to advise the public of bacterial levels of the Ohio River.
Portune also demonstrated his commitment to basic services as a member of council. His leadership and initiatives resulted in free yard waste collection, improvement of the city�s policy with regard to repair of sidewalks, a doubling of the city�s response to snow and ice removal and increased street repairs. Among Todd�s many legislative initiatives and successes is Safe Pathways, a program which teams civilian volunteers with police officers to monitor sidewalks near certain schools to keep children safe from drug dealers. He also initiated the city�s first anti-gang unit. Todd authored the city�s Tax Reform Act of 1998 providing tax relief and other benefits to city taxpayers.
On November 7, 2000, Todd was elected to the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners. Commissioner Portune serves as the Chair of the county�s Homeland Security Commission, as Chair of the Hamilton County Solid Waste Management District Policy Committee, is on the Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana (OKI) Regional Council of Governments Board of Trustees, is a member of the Hamilton County Transportation Improvement District and serves on the Regional Terrorism Preparedness Advisory Team.
Todd Portune began his service as commissioner by opening up county government, bringing the public into more meetings and opposing the abuse of closed door sessions that had occurred for years. He made the construction of Great American Ballpark more open to scrutiny, hired an auditor, required monthly reports, created new procedures to oversee construction costs, held the line against special interest requests and brought the entire project in on time and under budget.
On the tax side, Todd Portune�s leadership reduced hospital levy taxes by $30 Million from what they were asking, another $15 Million on two other levies. An audit provision he co-sponsored and introduced reduced the zoo levy to below its former rate. Portune single-handedly led the fight and succeeded to stop a proposed increase in the transfer real estate tax and enacted a real property tax reform that is resulting in a net reduction in real property taxes across the board for all county taxpayers beginning in 2004. Portune�s measures have resulted in county spending going down for the past two years in a row, and in a total reduction in county employees as well. In short, taxes are down, spending is down and the size of government is down.
On the public safety side, Portune raised the dual issues of correcting our fragmented communications system and repairing the outdated emergency warning system long before September 11th. Portune�s initiatives have stopped further fragmentation in our communication system. At his initiative, the county SWAT Team has a necessary command and incident vehicle and operating support, county HazMat and the Urban Search and Rescue Team have newer necessary equipment. The county is moving toward the creation of a Regional Emergency Operations Center and created a countywide Citizen Corps process that has drawn national recognition and praise from the Whitehouse.
Economically, Portune has led the county�s efforts to support business growth and development and the redevelopment of our urban core. He brought to the county the Home Improvement Program, supporting the redevelopment of the county�s aging housing stock, producing over $10 Million of private investment fixing up homes. Portune stopped the closing of essential community assets - our libraries - in five different county jurisdictions. His efforts produced a $2 Million fund to support economic development initiatives and he worked closely and tirelessly with civic, business and political leaders resulting in an expansion of the Sabin Convention Center, the creation of a new Northern Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau and a funding vehicle to expand Sharonville�s Convention Center - all without a new sales or restaurant tax on residents as some people originally planned.
The county made great gains in improving the health and well-being of our citizens. Under Portune�s lead, the Metropolitan Sewer District is finally fixing the sewers in Hamilton County, correcting the problems in the urban areas that previous commissioners ignored, and helping citizens clean up their basements when flooding occurs. The county is managing storm water flow issues better and scrutinizing the impact of new development on the environment. Under Portune�s proposal, the county preserved public transportation service at affordable rates for disabled residents, and perhaps most significantly, eliminated the waiting lists for senior citizens in Hamilton County to get much needed in home health care, meals service and other support so that our seniors can continue to live independent, productive lives in their own homes.
Portune believes that his primary responsibility as a county commissioner, is finding ways to improve opportunities for the people and the communities where they live. To accomplish this, Todd continues to focus on the basic priority services which include public safety, communications, transportation initiatives, infrastructure and sewer improvements, brownfield redevelopment, business district support and homeowner assistance.
Todd and his wife Angie, their twins Ellyse and Ethan, and daughter Emma reside in Westwood.
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