As part of CityBeat's continuing election coverage, we’ve once again sent a questionnaire to the non-incumbent Cincinnati City Council candidates to get their reactions on a broad range of issues.

Nine of the 14 non-incumbents chose to answer our questions. Others either didn’t respond or couldn’t meet the deadline.

During the next few weeks, we will print the responses from the non-incumbents to a different topic each time.

Today’s question is, “What is your stance on the property tax rollback? Do you believe the city's property tax rate should be increased to the maximum 6.1 mills allowed under the charter, or remain at a rate to generate $28.9 million each year, or be decreased? Please explain your answer.”

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Jim Tarbell has been a Rock & Roll club owner, Cincinnati’s vice mayor, a champion of preserving historic neighborhoods, an advocate of building a Reds stadium in Over-the-Rhine and a tireless promoter of the city, among the many hats he’s worn over the years. Now the political group that helped elect Tarbell to public office will honor him at a bash next month.

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Facing a $33 million deficit for next year, Cincinnati officials are facing some tough choices — including the city manager's recommendation to layoff 44 police officers. Now the public may chime in and offer suggestions.

City Council's Budget and Finance Committee has scheduled four public hearings this month at different locations throughout Cincinnati, with the first set for this week.

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Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory’s response to the controversy over telephone calls made by a city councilwoman during a police traffic stop is drawing fire from local Republicans.

Dr. Brad Wenstrup, the Republican candidate for mayor this fall, issued a press release calling Mallory’s comments “reprehensible.” His comments follow reaction from Hamilton County Republican Party Chairman Alex Triantafilou, who called the mayor’s remarks “disappointing."

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After years of dithering and months of debate, Cincinnati City Council narrowly approved a plan Wednesday to make changes to the cash-strapped pension plan for municipal workers. But a local GOP leader is confused about who voted for what.

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CityBeat’s continuing coverage of non-incumbent candidates for Cincinnati City Council today features a question about the city manager’s position.

We asked the candidates, “Do you believe the city manager’s position should be abolished in favor of giving executive authority to the mayor, as has been suggested in the past?”

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Anyone who's ever tried to hail a cab in Cincinnati knows it's nothing like the experience you imagine in a big city — stepping out confidently onto the street and gracefully waving your arm isn't usually enough to garner the attention or interest of cab drivers around here. In fact, hailing a cab in the city was illegal until last spring, when City Council lifted the ban.

In line with the city's efforts to improve urban infrastructure and bolster methods of transportation, City Council today will vote on a proposal brought forth by Councilman Wendell Young, which would raise taxicab fares in an effort to improve taxi transportation standards across the city.

According to Young, the reform is a necessary measure to handle the growth and development in Cincinnati.

"I want to be sure that the first and the last impression of our city that these visitors have, which is often a cab ride, be a first-rate experience. Our taxi industry needs reform, and this event helped spark an urgency and an energy to get the work done," said Young in a news release last fall, according to the Business Courier.

If approved, the taxi reform would create additional taxi stands in areas with the greatest demand, including Over-the-Rhine, the Banks, University of Cincinnati, Mt. Lookout, Hyde Park Square and Oakley Square. Business standards would also be put into place, including mandating training for all taxi drivers, creating a "Bill of Rights and Expectations" for drivers and customers, standardizing signage and expanding an already-existing taxi hotline.

Fees would also increase significantly — the plan would implement a 40-cent jump in rates per mile, up to $2 per mile from $1.60. The initial "drop" fee would also change from $3.40 to $4.

City Council will vote on the reform tonight. If it's approved, the changes would take effect July 1, just three days before the beginning the World Choir Games, which is expected to bring an influx of thousands of international visitors. 

Want to see how Cincinnati's proposed fares stack up? A look at cab fares in a few other cities around the country:

New York City : $2.50 upon entry, plus $0.40 for each 1/5 mile, plus several applicable surcharges

Chicago : $2.25 upon entry (first 1/9 mile), plus $0.20 for each 1/9 mile, plus applicable surcharges

Los Angeles: $2.85 upon entry (first 1/9 mile) plus $0.30 for each 1/9 mile, plus applicable surcharges.

Portland : $2.50 upon entry, $2.50 per additional mile, plus applicable surcharges

Atlanta: $2.50 upon entry, $2 per additional mile 

* Keep in mind it's customary everywhere to tip your cab driver 15 to 20 percent.

A tri-partisan mix of Cincinnati City Council members are once again reaching across party lines to hold a joint fundraiser — and bragging quite a bit while doing it.

Democrat Jeff Berding, Republican Leslie Ghiz and Charterite Chris Bortz are holding a campaign fundraiser together on Oct. 7. The trio also held a joint fundraiser in 2007 and often receives campaigning advice from Jeff Cramerding, executive director of the Charter Committee, Cincinnati’s de facto third political party.

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A group of Northside residents is working to raise $45,000 needed to open the neighborhood's swimming pool this summer, after the facility became the victim of the city's budget cuts.

The Working Families Movement of Northside held a rally March 24 to kickoff its fundraising effort. The group wants the pool at the city-owned McKie Recreation Center on Chase Avenue to open this summer, so neighborhood children — many of whom are low income — can use it during the warm weather months.

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In a move that's been expected for months, the parent company of The Enquirer informed investors Wednesday that all of its websites will implement a paywall model by year's end. Under the switch, online users will be able to access a limited number of articles for free every month, then must subscribe if they want to see additional digital content. Gannett Co. executives said it would probably offer between five and 15 articles for free per month, and compared the change to a system implemented by The New York Times last year. That newspaper, however, offers 20 free articles per month.

Hamilton County will soon have its first female coroner. The local Democratic Party's central committee will meet tonight to vote on the appointment of Dr. Lakshmi Kode Sammarco, a radiologist who lives in Indian Hill. She will replace Dr. Anant Bhati, who died last week from injuries sustained in a fall.

In a sign that the economy might be improving, local home sales increased in January. The Cincinnati Area Board of Realtors says sales last month rose almost 11 percent over January last year.

The city manager and his staffers at City Hall seem to be keeping pertinent facts from Cincinnati City Council. First, council members said they weren't aware that a Hamilton restaurant in line to get almost $1 million in grants and loans to open a location at The Banks just paid off a delinquent property tax bill that was almost two years old on their eatery in Butler County. Then, council members learned the city's recently hired human relations director had to resign from her previous position in Detroit over a controversy involving a severance payment. Although Georgetta Kelly said she had nothing to do with a $200,000 payout to a woman who voluntarily left a county job to become CEO of an airport, her signature appears on some of the documents.

In news elsewhere, a Georgia lawmaker who is disturbed by Republicans' increasing attempts to pass new legislation involving abortion and birth control has offered a proposal of her own. State Rep. Yasmin Neal, a Democrat, wants to begin regulating vasectomies. If approved, her bill would ban the practice of male sterilization except in cases where a man faces serious health risks without one. It was crafted as a response to a so-called “fetal pain bill” proposed by Republicans, which would ban abortions after 20 weeks.

Even though he wants to end the Afghanistan war and impose a more isolationist foreign policy, Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul has received more donations from members of the military than all of his GOP rivals and President Obama combined during 2011's fourth quarter. Paul raised more than $150,000 from active-duty military personnel.

As banks foreclose on an increasing number of properties nationwide, tenants are discovering many of those lending institutions are neglectful landlords, NPR reports.

The United Nations has a secret list of top Syrian officials who could face investigation for crimes against humanity for their violent crackdown against anti-government protestors, according to a U.N. report. The list includes Syrian President Bashar Assad, said London's The Independent. Sources tell the newspaper as many as 500 children have been killed in the violence.