2024 Candidate Questionnaire – Charles Tassell

Candidate Questionnaire – Charles Tassell

United States House of Representatives – 2nd District

Biography:

Charles is the Chief Operating Officer for the National Real Estate Investors Association since 2012, having served as a lobbyist and real estate consultant for over 20 years.  Charles also consults for regional and local organizations and developers.  He has been working on public policies for the past 30 years, and has advised policy development for dozens of states, counties, and municipalities, including authoring several pieces of legislation.  He also has served on several local, state, regional, national, and international boards.  Charles has served many roles in the Republican Party, most recently as the Chairman of the Clermont County Republican Party.

Charles has co-authored a Lobbying Manual and provided grassroots and lobbying training across the US.  His campaign courses have boosted the efforts of incumbents and challengers alike.  Other classes he has taught range from policies on environmental concerns to disaster preparedness and crisis media training.

Charles has served as an elected Council Member in Deer Park, Ohio for 8 years.  He is also an Elder at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church where his family has attended for more than 25 years.  Charles founded the non-profit Street Rescue in 2015 to reduce gun violence and has founded the Tassell Foundation for Civic Engagement which gives scholarships to politically active local High School students.  Charles is also engaged in real estate development groups owning several apartment buildings, and other businesses. Charles has been married to Regina Tassell for 30+ years and has three children: CJ (& Anna), Regan, and Eliza. 

What are your three most important policy priorities? What do you hope will be the impact of implementing these policies?

1. Reduce the budget deficit.  2.  Immigration – finish the wall & fix the gate!. 3. Address the housing crisis.  While the first two items tend to dominate conversations, the housing crisis hits us where we live – pun intended.  The cost of housing, even the distribution of housing, impacts the workforce and viability of growing or drawing in a diverse and experienced workforce.  The combination of fiscal restraint to provide better long term business planning and improved efficiency in the legal immigration process could dramatically assist

If elected, what will be your approach to engage with constituents and businesses to gather input on legislative/policy decisions?

Having worked as an advocate for a local association I am familiar with the need for regular and intentional meetings with stakeholder groups.  This is especially true during times of duress or in preparation for legislation.  Site visits, roundtables and of course fly-ins are all helpful.

In your opinion, what are the two most important challenges facing our county and how do you propose to address them?  

Budgets and Borders are critical to our overall success.  The lack of fiscal discipline in passing budgets rather than CRs has resulted in a massive growth in the deficit and expansion of the debt.  The resulting inflationary impact is harming small businesses, especially with a devaluation of the dollar in comparison to commodities.  Second, the impact of an outdated and inefficient immigration bureaucracy has created an environment that harms businesses and sets them up for failure with wage and talent challenges for skilled labor, and unskilled and undocumented workers that provide false IDs and unreliable.  The budgets will take a tremendous amount of work to restart, and the reduction of the federal workforce, even block granting back departments to the states will take time, but will have a key impact on the overall budget.  While the election year immigration bill is DOA, a real dialogue needs to address both the “wall” and the “gate” process. 

Ultimately, the growth of the economy will provide the largest impact on the budget, as long government doesn’t choke of business growth with regulation, inflation, and fiscal unaccountability.   

How do you plan to address regulatory challenges that local businesses face? Are there specific regulations or policies you would advocate in order to streamline business operations?

While constituent services is critical to the short-term success of overcoming regulatory obstacles, structural changes need to be implemented.  Block granting of programs back to states allows for more customized implementation with more accessible regulators.  The review of all regulations on a routine basis needs to be considered, or they automatically sunset.  But the key effort must include a legislative change to the Administrative Procedures Act.  The deferment of Chevron must be terminated and regulating bodies brought back for far more oversight by Congress and its original intent under the law.

How do you plan to address infrastructure needs in our region, such as transportation, broadband, and utilities, to support business growth?

Having served on several Chamber USA boards and as an elected representative to OKI, I am keenly aware of the needs in the district for everything from running water(!) in several counties to the definitive lack of broadband infrastructure and transportation corridors as one leaves the 275 loop.  South-Eastern Ohio is in desperate need of these core services in order to grow business of any kind, let alone take advantage of the wave of reshoring that is starting to occur.

What strategies do you propose to enhance workforce development and address any skills gaps in our community?

While schools, trade and community, are natural growth functionaries, simplified tax benefits for small businesses are critical.  Too often the application process is too lengthy and cumbersome for small business to comply.  Streamlined programs are critical for small business to regain the momentum necessary to propel the US economy AND the middle class.

What measures do you propose to attract new businesses and encourage entrepreneurship locally?

Entrepreneur-oriented programing at high schools, benefitting from partner business that re resourced and growing locally is critical.  Micro-loan and start-up programs will be necessary as capital costs rise due to an ageing US demographic that is less interested in growth and more reliant on stability.  Raising awareness of entrepreneurs and praising success – profitable success – is critical.

As a member of an elected body, how would you work with your colleagues to build relationships and build consensus for your ideas?

God gave us two ears and one mouth to use in proportion.  Having worked on numerous pieces of legislation, advocated on many policies in a variety of states as well as federally, I am experienced at working with all interested parties.  I have worked with and secured Tea Party and NAACP endorsement of the same bill – not by talking, persuading or cajoling, but listening – really hearing what the problem is and working to develop solutions.  Without understanding the problem, any solution will only create far more problems and unintended consequences.