Politics

City of Columbus mayoral candidate Joe Motil states, “Today’s Columbus City Council press conference previewed their Housing Initiatives. In almost all their points, they all but copied and pasted the proposals that I have been advocating for over a year.” This is the Columbus Way.

Motil continues, “For more than a year, as part of my Affordable Housing proposals, I have advocated for an ‘Empty Homes Tax.’ This is exactly what Councilman Rob Dorans suddenly proposed,  calling  it the ‘Columbus Rental Registry.’ Of course, the City Council members do not acknowledge me or anyone else.”

Motil stated, “My proposed Empty Homes Tax will increase the supply of urgently needed housing. It will incentivize property investors who leave homes vacant until the market favors them to list and then rent or sell the property. It will also force slumlords to renovate housing that sits vacant and contributes to crime and deteriorating neighborhoods. The Empty Homes Tax revenue generated from property owners goes into an Affordable Housing Trust Fund.”   

Environmental activists, after Wednesday’s public meeting (March 1st) of the Oil and Gas Land Management Commission, called on commission members to seek emergency adoption from Gov. Mike DeWine of Proposed Rule 155-1-01, which sets the regulations regarding oil and gas industry leases for fossil fuel extraction from Ohio public lands. 

The Oil and Gas Land Management Commission approved Proposed Rule 155-1-01, along with a draft Standard Lease Form, at its February 1 meeting and sent these items on for consideration by the Common Sense Initiative and Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review. 

The ballot for this coming November 7 may offer another monumental chance for progressive voters in Columbus to take needed action – and this in case, to ensure legal and safe access to abortion. This week the Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights and Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom announced they are joining together to place a citizen-initiated constitutional amendment on November’s 2023 statewide general election ballot.

The jointly drafted amendment will be similar to a constitutional amendment approved by Michigan voters last November.

A distinction between the two is the Ohio Physician for Reproductive Rights is mostly backed by 1,400 doctors and healthcare professionals while Ohioans for Reproductive Freedom is a coalition of statewide reproductive rights and justice organizations such as the ACLU of Ohio, Abortion Fund of Ohio, New Voices for Reproductive Justice, Ohio Women’s Alliance, and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio.

Former Columbus City Council candidate and long-time community advocate Joe Motil’s Declaration of Candidacy petitions for Mayor of Columbus  were certified this afternoon by the Franklin County Board of Elections. Mr. Motil and current Mayor Andrew Ginther will face off in the November 7,2023 General Election.   

As a community leader and advocate for fairness, opportunity, equality, and justice, Mr. Motil has been involved with city government for 37 years in numerous capacities. His advocacy and commitment is well known and respected throughout Columbus’ neighborhoods. He is recognized especially for his fights against the city’s tax abatement policies, proposing solutions for truly affordable housing, advocating for the unsheltered, exposing corruption and the unethical conduct of city officials, police reform, and advancing the rights for all Columbus citizens voices to be heard.       

Somewhere in a secure office bunker outside Washington, D.C. …

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, convenes a meeting of his top political advisers.

The octogenarian minority leader has placed winning the Ohio Senate seat on the agenda today.

“Gentlemen,” he says, “We must win Ohio in 2024 in order to regain control of the Senate. I am tired of the near misses of the past two elections and I am getting too damn old to wait any longer to reclaim my rightful destiny as majority leader.”

“What do we know about this Ohio State Senator Matt Dolan, who just announced?”

An aide replies, “Dolan ran in the primary in 2022 and finished third to J.D. Vance and that former state official who has a robotic personality. Can’t think of his name. Dolan is the likable scion of the wealthy family that owns the Cleveland Indians, err Guardians. The family put millions into his last campaign. He comes from the not completely crazy wing of the Ohio party.”

“Who else?", says Mitch.

Former Columbus City Council candidate and long-time community activist Joe Motil is submitting more than 2,000 petition signatures to the Franklin County Board of Elections at noon on Wednesday February 1, 2023. This officially confirms his campaign for mayor in the 2023 non-partisan May primary election.  

As a community leader dedicated to fairness, opportunity, equality, and justice, Motil has been involved with city government for 37 years in numerous capacities. His advocacy and commitment is well known and respected throughout Columbus’ neighborhoods. He is recognized especially for his fights against the city’s tax abatement policies, proposing solutions for truly affordable housing, advocating for the unsheltered, exposing corruption and the unethical conduct of city officials, reforming police, and advancing the rights for all Columbus citizens voices to be heard.       

Former Columbus City Council candidate and long-time community activist Joe Motil is submitting more than 2,000 petition signatures to the Franklin County Board of Elections at noon on Wednesday February 1, 2023. This officially confirms his campaign for mayor in the 2023 non-partisan May primary election.  

As a community leader dedicated to fairness, opportunity, equality, and justice, Motil has been involved with city government for 37 years in numerous capacities. His advocacy and commitment is well known and respected throughout Columbus’ neighborhoods. He is recognized especially for his fights against the city’s tax abatement policies, proposing solutions for truly affordable housing, advocating for the unsheltered, exposing corruption and the unethical conduct of city officials, reforming police, and advancing the rights for all Columbus citizens voices to be heard.       

This past weekend in the brisk sunshine, a volunteer representing Adrienne Hood for Columbus City Council knocked on the front door of a registered voter on Karl Road in the new District 4, which encompasses much of the northside. As traffic raced in both directions, someone finally opened the door.

The volunteer was seeking signatures to qualify Hood as a candidate for City Council’s primary vote this coming May – the first election ever for City Council’s new nine district system, that was approved by voters in 2018. The general election is November, and in 2024, a councilmember will represent each of the nine districts increasing the current number of Councilmembers by two.

Hood’s volunteer asks the voter, “Do you remember who Adrienne Hood’s son was? He was shot and killed by Columbus police.”

Joe Motil, former Columbus City Council candidate and longtime community activist who is circulating petitions to run for mayor in the 2023 May primary election states: “I attended [Monday, January 9) night’s Columbus City Council meeting to testify against an ordinance. I also supported my fellow advocates who spoke at the meeting about the numerous issues and failures by our city and the justice system regarding the murder of Sinzae Reed. My younger fellow citizens were exposed unexpectedly and rudely exposed to one particular element of the undemocratic rules and conduct of Columbus City Council meetings.

“Because two speakers representing the organizations J.U.S.T. and The Downtownerz signed up to testify during the public comments portion of the City Council meeting, City Council procedures call for an adjournment of the scheduled meeting. This results automatically in turning off the cameras and audio that live stream the meeting on YouTube and for those who have basic cable television.

As many citizens of undemocratic, unrepresentative, anti-public, and corrupt Columbus now know, the city faces a “Democratic” primary election on May 2, 2023 and a general election on November 7. As of this writing, two candidates have declared, the incumbent Democratic machine—but no democratic—candidate Andy Ginther, and a true democrat Joe Motil.

I write for the first day of 2023 to propose for discussion and perhaps debate, a new era of democracy for the city built on filth and lack of affordable food and housing, unsanitary conditions, broken streets and sidewalks, homelessness, campus neighborhood safety and stability, dominance of special interests, grift and corruption; and the expansion of democracy, public services, respect for residents and taxpayers, and a city rebuilt for the 21st century.

For discussion and debate, I propose:

Researching, criticizing, debating openly, reimagining, and then remaking Columbus

I. Bring Columbus into the 20th and 21st centuries

II. Promote democratic reforms beginning with a truly representative city council, elected by districts, not at-large, citywide

III. Reorganize city government