Latest / Chuck Douglas / Candidate For House District 6 Matthew Jackson

Transcript

Candidate For House District 6 Matthew Jackson · Chuck Douglas

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  Speaker 1: Greetings, salutations, welcome, my friends, to another edition of the
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  Speaker 1: Power Hour on 610 WTV. And I'm Chuck Douglas. You
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  Speaker 1: know who you are, and we take it from there.
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  Speaker 1: We get one hour together, which means I talk really fast,
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  Speaker 1: and you must listen even faster. Guest in the studio
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  Speaker 1: once again tonight as we get closer and closer and
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  Speaker 1: closer to Election Day. Early voting is going on right now.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe you've... You've chosen already to take that route. If
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  Speaker 1: you have not and still thinking about casting your vote
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  Speaker 1: and what you're going to do and who you're going
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  Speaker 1: to do it for and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,
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  Speaker 1: I would like to introduce you to a man named
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  Speaker 1: Matthew Jackson. He's tall, he's rather loud, and he's a
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  Speaker 1: newbie to politics. First time you have run for office, correct?
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  Speaker 2: That is correct.
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  Speaker 1: And what made you want to? Of all the stuff
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  Speaker 1: that you could possibly do with your life, what made
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  Speaker 1: you want to get into the zoo called politics?
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  Speaker 2: Well, you know, I.
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  Speaker 3: given service to this country by serving in the Navy.
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  Speaker 3: I've served as a firefighter, AEMT, and also as a
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  Speaker 3: wildland firefighter up in Alaska and a federal firefighter. So
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  Speaker 3: I thought, you know, running for public office when asked
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  Speaker 3: to by the party, I thought, what's the worst that
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  Speaker 3: can happen?
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  Speaker 1: Well, putting out fires is probably a good experience for politics.
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  Speaker 2: Yes.
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  Speaker 1: That's not bad. You're running for the Ohio House of Representatives.
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  Speaker 2: Correct.
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  Speaker 1: And let's talk about the district, what it is, where
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  Speaker 1: it is, who you represent, and how many hands are
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  Speaker 1: you tired of shaking?
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  Speaker 3: A lot of hands shaking and a lot of people
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  Speaker 3: getting angry at just trying to state what I want
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  Speaker 3: to run for. The district is uniquely is a unique place.
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  Speaker 3: It's the hilltop prairie township and the Columbus taxes of Hilliard,
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  Speaker 3: which that that's a whole nother conversation of how it
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  Speaker 3: became the Columbus taxes of Hilliard. But I'll tell you,
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  Speaker 3: it's a unique people where they get a shorten of
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  Speaker 3: the stick down in the hilltop. You know, you have
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  Speaker 3: all these areas around the hilltop getting the money, the
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  Speaker 3: new businesses and everything. And it just seems like for
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  Speaker 3: generations to generation, they've been skipped over. And as I'm
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  Speaker 3: looking at it more and more, the representation needs to
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  Speaker 3: be there to argue that they deserve the shots that
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  Speaker 3: they should get. They deserve the businesses. They deserve money.
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  Speaker 3: People to talk to these companies to get the just
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  Speaker 3: the infrastructure that they deserve to get the shot that
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  Speaker 3: they all deserve.
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  Speaker 1: As somebody who grew up in the hilltop, I can
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  Speaker 1: say amen. You're not not just at the state level,
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  Speaker 1: the city level, too. There have been so many so
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  Speaker 1: many unfulfilled promises, so many missed opportunities. We had we had,
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  Speaker 1: as they call it, the Broad Street corridor, which, frankly, honestly, seriously,
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  Speaker 1: could look like Grandview Avenue. But people make a difference,
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  Speaker 1: first of all. And as long as crime and criminals
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  Speaker 1: are rampant, that's not going to happen. Secondly, parking availability.
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  Speaker 1: The city of Columbus at one point when I was
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  Speaker 1: on the area commission, they paid for a parking study
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  Speaker 1: in that West Broad Street corridor on the hilltop. And
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  Speaker 1: the people, the company that they paid to do this
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  Speaker 1: with your tax dollars came back with parking spaces that
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  Speaker 1: were like in people's backyards. Not public parking areas, but
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  Speaker 1: to show that we had plenty of parking. No, we don't.
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  Speaker 1: Parking in somebody's backyard is not available parking. So the
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  Speaker 1: community has been mistreated, overlooked, and honestly lied to for
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  Speaker 1: so long on so many levels that a friend in
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  Speaker 1: the statehouse would probably do us some good. Now, obviously,
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  Speaker 1: you're running for that district, so you live in that district.
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  Speaker 1: How long have you been over there?
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  Speaker 3: I just moved back into the district after I was
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  Speaker 3: away for a few years serving in the Navy, as
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  Speaker 3: you know. and getting the chance to actually be a
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  Speaker 3: firefighter in different locations. When I came back, when I
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  Speaker 3: was looking for a home, it was actually, you know,
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  Speaker 3: a nice home out in the Hilliard area of Columbus.
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  Speaker 3: But when I was asked to run for the office,
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  Speaker 3: I did not know that this area had an open seat.
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  Speaker 3: I did not know that Christine Cochlea almost went unopposed
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  Speaker 3: running for office. Now, I always believe that you should
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  Speaker 3: have different choices. That's the American dream. That's the American way.
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  Speaker 3: You wouldn't like to go to a restaurant or something
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  Speaker 3: and only give them one choice unless it's just that
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  Speaker 3: much you pay for it. But, yeah, I would say
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  Speaker 3: that it's an honor and a blessing to be able
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  Speaker 3: to get the chance to even run for office to
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  Speaker 3: represent the people of the Hilltop.
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  Speaker 2: They are tough.
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  Speaker 3: They are, they, they are hardworking and they, and they
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  Speaker 3: know what they want. You know, I'm not coming in
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  Speaker 3: to be able to try to say, I know everything
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  Speaker 3: they need.
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  Speaker 2: I want to listen to people.
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  Speaker 3: I want to understand what people are saying, and I'm
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  Speaker 3: not going to come in with promises that I'm not
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  Speaker 3: going to keep.
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  Speaker 2: Only thing I want to promise. The big thing is
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  Speaker 2: let's work together.
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  Speaker 1: I know you've got to have some vision already, whether
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  Speaker 1: it's a, something you can do or just something that
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  Speaker 1: you've gone through the communities, you've met the people, heard
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  Speaker 1: their stories, something that is right at the top of
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  Speaker 1: your agenda. Man, if I can get elected to this position,
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  Speaker 1: one of the first things I want to pursue is what?
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  Speaker 3: The biggest thing is get these communities safer. Start pushing
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  Speaker 3: legislation that will make the city be able to ensure
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  Speaker 3: safer policing equally throughout the city. Columbus is just, you know,
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  Speaker 3: you shouldn't have called the police and have to wait
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  Speaker 3: two hours for the police. I would say the biggest
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  Speaker 3: thing that I've thought of, too, is definitely the the
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  Speaker 3: at large voting, because the biggest issue right now is
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  Speaker 3: you don't. The Hilltop isn't getting represented in city council
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  Speaker 3: by people that are running for the Hilltop area. I
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  Speaker 3: actually have a good friend. I'll give a shout out
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  Speaker 3: to her, Dr.
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  Speaker 2: Holloway.
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  Speaker 3: She's running for city council. Now, you'll see her name
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  Speaker 3: on the ballot when you run. But when she runs
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  Speaker 3: in the general election, it's going to be at large voting,
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  Speaker 3: which if you don't know, that's issue eight. That's actually running.
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  Speaker 3: on the ballot this time for Columbus. But it causes
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  Speaker 3: it where now she's going to end up running against
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  Speaker 3: all of Columbus to be able to represent Hilltop.
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  Speaker 2: And she knows what's going on in Hilltop.
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  Speaker 3: She's lived here for years, for decades, and she understands
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  Speaker 3: what it's like to have somebody driving by the park
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  Speaker 3: and shooting. And that's what the representation needs to be.
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  Speaker 3: That's one of the biggest thing is we need the
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  Speaker 3: voices from the area where you're at that can understand,
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  Speaker 3: can sympathize. When you don't have that, you can kind
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  Speaker 3: of get lost in the sauce, I would say.
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  Speaker 1: You get a lot of diversity. I mean, with the
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  Speaker 1: Hilliard slash Columbus thing, derived out of that whole win-win
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  Speaker 1: mentality back in the 90s. Like off of North Wilson Road,
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  Speaker 1: for example, you've got a lot of homes that are,
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  Speaker 1: they are in Columbus, but they're in Hilliard schools, which
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  Speaker 1: that's got its own set of issues. Prairie Township, completely
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  Speaker 1: different animal from Wheatland Avenue. How do you kind of prioritize?
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  Speaker 1: Because the stuff happening in Prairie Township right now, especially
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  Speaker 1: when it comes to development, they've got some Ohio health
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  Speaker 1: concerns out there right now with some acquisition and development,
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  Speaker 1: the solar farm stuff in the rural areas, the possibility
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  Speaker 1: of even some data center stuff out there on the
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  Speaker 1: edges of Franklin County. It's worrisome to everybody, but In
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  Speaker 1: different ways, how do you prioritize that stuff? Is it
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  Speaker 1: whoever's the loudest? Who gets your attention first?
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  Speaker 3: You know, what do they say? A squeaky wheel gets
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  Speaker 3: the grease. I guess I've been a squeaky wheel most
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  Speaker 3: of my life, so I understand that. But, you know,
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  Speaker 3: everyone is going to get the attention. I mean, I
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  Speaker 3: try to go to all different meetings. I try to
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  Speaker 3: get out and voted in. I'm not going to just
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  Speaker 3: sling back into my hole and not be out and
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  Speaker 3: not listen there. There's I got to admit, it's so
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  Speaker 3: diverse of a community. Whoever drew up the maps, they
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  Speaker 3: weren't looking at the different sectors in the cultures of
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  Speaker 3: each area. So it takes someone that's culturally diverse like
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  Speaker 3: myself to be able to understand different areas. I'm a
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  Speaker 3: blue-collar worker, got to work as a page in the
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  Speaker 3: Ohio House, and just a stack on stack on top
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  Speaker 3: of that. So I understand one thing, and I understand
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  Speaker 3: that people don't want to see their areas as, become
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  Speaker 3: less than what they are, and they want to see
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  Speaker 3: them improve. They want to see their parks become better
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  Speaker 3: or have more parks. They want to see their ability
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  Speaker 3: to have grocery stores that aren't going to close down
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  Speaker 3: still there. I think the biggest thing is also working
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  Speaker 3: with the industries and the organizations and being the voice.
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  Speaker 3: Getting the platform, God blesses me to get that platform.
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  Speaker 3: I think that I would definitely use that to make
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  Speaker 3: meetings with a bunch of the local businesses. And I've
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  Speaker 3: already talked to them. And they did say if I
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  Speaker 3: win on day one, I'm inducted, that they would definitely
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  Speaker 3: come and we'll have that conversation. I'll be the voice
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  Speaker 3: not only in the room for every person, but I'll
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  Speaker 3: represent them. And I'm not going to just say it's
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  Speaker 3: going to be one agenda. There's no agenda with me running.
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  Speaker 3: It's the only agenda is to be a friend of you,
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  Speaker 3: of every person in the district, every person in Ohio
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  Speaker 3: and try to be the voice. And if someone out
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  Speaker 3: of my district wants to get an issue put across
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  Speaker 3: and they just know my name, Matthew Jackson, they can
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  Speaker 3: contact me and I'll help them. That's what I've been
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  Speaker 3: taught through fire department as I've been taught through the Navy.
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  Speaker 3: And I'm just going to continue on to be that
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  Speaker 3: voice that there's so many issues and they tackle one
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  Speaker 3: issue in and of itself at a time.
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  Speaker 2: That's just wrong.
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  Speaker 3: Every issue matters and every person truly matters in some
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  Speaker 3: days and nights. I'm up till two in the morning
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  Speaker 3: trying to look up what's going on in all these areas.
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  Speaker 3: It takes tireless dedication to truly tackle all the issues
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  Speaker 3: from Columbus to Hilliard to Hilltop and everything and beyond.
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  Speaker 1: As you've toured the Hilltop, I'm quite sure you've noticed
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  Speaker 1: the housing situation from the statehouse. That, at least in
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  Speaker 1: my opinion, somebody who's grown up there six decades of life.
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  Speaker 1: in the greater Hilltop area, one of the things that
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  Speaker 1: needs to be addressed at the state level is the housing.
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  Speaker 1: Not through some new and innovative programs, but by going
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  Speaker 1: back in time a little bit. We have far too
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  Speaker 1: many vacant homes around there. We've got OFA at the
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  Speaker 1: state level, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency. I would love
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  Speaker 1: to see you commit to concentrating on trying to put
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  Speaker 1: neighbors back in neighborhoods.
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  Speaker 2: Yes.
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  Speaker 1: Not investors, not some conglomerate from overseas, real people in
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  Speaker 1: these homes, making it as simple as possible while staying
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  Speaker 1: practical for them to buy these homes and create neighbors
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  Speaker 1: in our neighborhoods. Again, if you flew that banner after
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  Speaker 1: you got elected, I'd be a very happy person.
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  Speaker 3: I would definitely see that. And, you know, you can
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  Speaker 3: actually do that with putting really good veterans in giving.
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  Speaker 2: Incentives to get in there with their GI bills.
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  Speaker 3: You can do that by getting a lot of people
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  Speaker 3: that are looking for good homes. I remember I was
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  Speaker 3: out eating the other day and someone listened to my
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  Speaker 3: conversation with a friend of mine. And they were so
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  Speaker 3: excited that they were hearing that. And they said, we
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  Speaker 3: moved here. We've lived here. We just don't want to
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  Speaker 3: have people in our alley knocking over our trash. We
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  Speaker 3: just need to have more security around. We don't want
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  Speaker 3: to crack house next door to us. And, you know,
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  Speaker 3: there are credible issues there that, you know, people are
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  Speaker 3: struggling with. And there are actually standards that can be enforced,
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  Speaker 3: I believe, on the books as far as organizations doing
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  Speaker 3: it within Columbus, I definitely believe. And, you know, I'll
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  Speaker 3: make the promise. Once I get voted in, I'll put
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  Speaker 3: that on the top of my agenda. Because getting houses
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  Speaker 3: with neighbors, not always just having things gentrified and seeing
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  Speaker 3: people trying to come in and say they're changing the environment.
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  Speaker 3: I don't know if the culture of the Hilltop needs
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  Speaker 3: to be changed. It just has to go back to
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  Speaker 3: where the people just have... have the honor that they have.
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  Speaker 3: People are honored to live in the Hilltop. People have
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  Speaker 3: respect for the Hilltop. Walking around, getting to talk to people,
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  Speaker 3: you know, all I see is just a few losses
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  Speaker 3: to be cut and stuff and manicured. And I think
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  Speaker 3: it's a great place. It can be, it has the
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  Speaker 3: propensity and the ability to become one of the beacons
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  Speaker 3: of Central Ohio. You know, I could see it being
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  Speaker 3: the new Main Street. I mean, you have so much
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  Speaker 3: stuff right up and down there. You see so many cars.
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  Speaker 3: You see so much movement. And I think it's possible.
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  Speaker 3: I think it's possible to get Columbus to have another
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  Speaker 3: fire station in that area. Brand new fire stations where
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  Speaker 3: you feel safe. You feel like if your house catches
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  Speaker 3: on fire, it's going to be a five minute response time.
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  Speaker 3: Or if someone has a heart attack, five minute response time.
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  Speaker 3: where everyone wants to go to the Hilltop. That's my vision. Hilltop,
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  Speaker 3: and that's been one of my main focuses too, deserves better.
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  Speaker 3: And it deserves somebody, even if it's just me for
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  Speaker 3: two years, I would love to bring that back. You know,
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  Speaker 3: and it may not be in a bill. It may
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  Speaker 3: be talking to the actual people as a representative of
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  Speaker 3: the District 6. Hilltop is going to be one of
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  Speaker 3: my top areas to really try to focus on. And
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  Speaker 3: even going up to City Council. and being a person
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  Speaker 3: that's going to be an advocate for every single hilltop citizen,
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  Speaker 3: you can say. I believe they need a voice in
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  Speaker 3: the room. They need a voice in the city. They
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  Speaker 3: need a voice in this state. And they aren't getting
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  Speaker 3: it right now.
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  Speaker 1: Matthew Jackson is his name. He's running for the Ohio
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  Speaker 1: House of Representatives, District 6, concentrating primarily on the west
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  Speaker 1: side of Columbus and over into Prairie Township.