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Board of County Commissioners

Commissioner Chris Monzel

Chris Monzel recently completed the second year of his first four-year term as a member of the Hamilton County Commissioners. At the commission’s organizational meeting in January, Monzel was unanimously elected by his fellow commissioners Hartmann and Portune to serve as President of the Commission for the year 2013.

Chris brings a well-honed reputation for fiscal responsibility to the commission. As both an engineer and manager at GE, Chris has achieved private sector results by improving the delivery and cost of repair technology services while managing a substantial budget. These results translate well to providing cost efficient government to the citizens of Hamilton County.

Commissioner Monzel’s passion for public service is the product of years serving the communities in which he lived. He has held the position of trustee for the Mt. Adams Civic Association and served as vice-president of the Winton Place Community Council. While serving his community, Chris gained knowledge of neighborhood issues first-hand and came to understand the problems facing Hamilton County.

Chris acquired a wealth of unique experiences beyond his formal education both in the U.S. and abroad. Following graduation in 1986 as valedictorian from Moeller High School, he studied at Purdue University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering. In 1993, he decided to pursue public service by accepting a position with the Marianist Volunteer Service Community in Queens, New York where he worked for a year at the Angel Guardian Home Foster Care Agency in Brooklyn, New York. While there, Chris worked with teens helping them to develop independent living skills in order to prepare them for life outside the foster care system. Following this, he became the acting Director of a homeless shelter in Oakland, California, where he acquired a greater understanding of the many housing and health care issues facing inner city communities. In 1995, Chris accepted a teaching assignment at Minsk State Linguistic University in Minsk, Belarus where he taught American Studies. This assignment provided him the opportunity to learn about the difficult environmental and political issues facing the people of Belarus. While in Minsk, he pursued fund-raising grants for the Children of Chernobyl Organization and pro-democracy groups. Upon his return from Belarus, Chris returned to the classroom to broaden his field of studies and received a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1998.

During his years on Cincinnati City Council, Chris has served on the Budget and Finance Committee, Government Operations Committee, Livable Communities Committee, Quality of Life Committee, and as Chairman of the Arts, Culture, Tourism and Marketing & Technology Committee. He has also held the position of Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Health, Environmental Education Committee as well as a member of Law and Public Safety Committee.

Chris is presently employed by General Electric Aviation as the Operations Leader for Repair Technology Center of Excellence Department. He is a Six Sigma Black Belt recipient. The Six Sigma Black Belt designation denotes enhanced skills and results in achieving increased productivity and lean processes to provide repairs faster, better, and cheaper. Being responsible for a Department Budget of $128M; he understands the necessity of balancing budgets while meeting evolving goals.

Chris, his wife, Jana, and their three children, reside in Glendale where they are deeply involved in their children’s activities. Chris is a former President of the St. Vivian’s PTA and is currently a basketball coach for St. Vivian. In addition, he helped coach baseball for College Hill/North Hills Knothole Baseball.