Jaime Castle is no stranger to Cincinnati City Hall. Growing up with a father who worked in the solicitor’s office and a mother who clerked across the street, it was almost destiny that she would give her service to the same community. From working as a Cincinnati Public Schools substitute teacher to a local leader in her church, and an active parent volunteer in her children’s activities, Jaime’s path thus far has shown her energy and commitment to helping others in an impactful way. After an electric campaign for OH-2, she is back and ready to get out there again to become Cincinnati’s next city councilwoman. This campaign season, she hopes to continue her work of involving more folks in the democratic process, strengthen community partnerships and leave city hall the beacon of excellence she remembers from her childhood.

Castle for Cincinnati

Meet the Candidate

Can you tell our members a little bit about your journey to filing as a candidate?

I am very much like many moms – wearing many hats, juggling schedules and responsibilities. I have a history up stepping up when needed – to run the PTO at school, to serve as President of the Board of Trustees at church, to coach youth soccer, to direct the youth musicals…to run for Congress in 2020 when we were running out of time for a candidate to challenge the incumbent whom many felt was out of touch and voting against our interests. In running for Congress, I learned so much and met so many. Running for City Council meant that I was not going up against gerrymandering and that I could have an opportunity to serve the people still. Running again was due to the encouragement of many and the energy that I still had to be a force for change.

Tip O’Neill famously said that “all politics is local.” What are the top two issues your community faces today and how do you plan to address them?

One issue is housing inequity – we have a shortage of affordable housing units and we are subsidizing luxury and high income housing development. We need to streamline the tax abatement system to set standards prioritizing investment in neighborhoods and projects that will create and protect affordable housing and we need to expand home ownership opportunities. Another issue is pedestrian safety – our city was designed for cars in mind but we need to modernize our way of thinking to continuously invest in public transit, safe and protected non-car transportation options, street calming efforts, and redesigning our roads to make them safer while enforcing traffic laws.

What stands out in our values as most important to you and your experience (or expected experience) in public office? Our values are:

∙      Economic empowerment

∙      Equity and independence

∙      Dominion over our bodies

∙      Access to education

∙      Safe communities in which to live and raise our families

As a public school teacher, access to high quality education is especially important to me. Here in Ohio, the way that we fund our schools being linked to property taxes has been deemed unconstitutional and has led to injustice in educational access with impoverished communities suffering. Education can be a key to getting out of poverty and creating generational wealth. When we prioritize education and teachers, our whole society will see benefits from crime reduction, food and housing security, and economic growth.

What does a Matriots PAC endorsement mean to you and your campaign?

Being supported by fellow women is so empowering to me because I feel a shared connection in the unique struggles that we face and in the shared values that we hold. There is a sisterhood in addition to the matriarchal arms that embrace a Matriot candidate. I feel completely supported emotionally in addition to professionally and running for office is a tireless venture so knowing that The Matriots are with me, gives me strength to keep fighting.