Latest / Chuck Douglas / Bonus Audio Joe Motil on Issues 8 and 9

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Bonus Audio Joe Motil on Issues 8 and 9 · Chuck Douglas

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: All right, this is the post-show podcast. I said on
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  Speaker 1: the Power Hour tonight that I wanted to do a
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  Speaker 1: little more time with Joe Motil. We're talking about issues
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  Speaker 1: eight and nine, and there just wasn't enough time on
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: the air. And I wanted to make sure we distinguish
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  Speaker 1: heavily between what eight is, what nine is, and the
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  Speaker 1: fact that this election has to go a certain way. Otherwise,
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  Speaker 1: nine prevails regardless of what you want. So Joe has
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: agreed to stay around for this additional podcast. We'll just
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  Speaker 1: spend 10 minutes or so here, just trying to make
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  Speaker 1: sure you have all the details before the early voting starts.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so issue eight, as everybody should know, hopefully by now,
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  Speaker 2: is that it's just going to be nine districts and
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  Speaker 2: that's it. You know, those people that live in a
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  Speaker 2: particular district can only vote for their city council candidate
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  Speaker 2: that is running in their district. It is no longer
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  Speaker 2: at large. Now, district nine, issue nine, I'm sorry, is
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  Speaker 2: the nine districts along with four at-large seats. There will
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  Speaker 2: be two in the 27 election, I believe, and then
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  Speaker 2: two in the 2029 election. But anyways, there's going to
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  Speaker 2: be two separate elections where there's going to be two
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  Speaker 2: at-large seats that will be available. And then also the
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  Speaker 2: city council issue nine proposal has also pushed up the
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  Speaker 2: date to change the boundaries of the nine districts. And
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  Speaker 2: that will, instead of taking place in 2030 when the U.S.
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  Speaker 2: Census Bureau, typically this would be done, and according to
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  Speaker 2: the current legislation, that's when it's supposed to be done,
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  Speaker 2: they're moving it up to 2028. So that's the difference.
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  Speaker 2: And the one thing about this is that people need
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  Speaker 2: to understand if Issue 9 wins, because Issue 9 also
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  Speaker 2: has the nine-district election rules, matter in its ballot initiative,
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  Speaker 2: as same as issue eight, but they also include the
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  Speaker 2: additional at-large seats, issue nine would prevail. Regardless if issue
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  Speaker 2: eight has more yes votes than issue nine, as long
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  Speaker 2: as there's more yes votes for issue nine than no votes,
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  Speaker 2: issue nine passes. So that's the other reason why Columbus
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  Speaker 2: City Council did this proposal because they knew ahead of
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  Speaker 2: time that by putting this proposal on the ballot, that
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  Speaker 2: they had a hand up in terms of getting their
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  Speaker 2: issue passed, because if both issues pass, issue nine will prevail.
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  Speaker 2: So that means you're going to have four at large
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  Speaker 2: seats along with the nine district elections.
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  Speaker 1: And this is vitally important for you to understand. I
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  Speaker 1: hate when ballot language is unclear and I hate when
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  Speaker 1: the voting process is unclear. But I think, again, this
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  Speaker 1: is more smoke and mirrors to confuse people. Listen to
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  Speaker 1: what Joe just said. If they both pass, then it's
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  Speaker 1: Issue 9. You understand that? You not only have to
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  Speaker 1: vote in favor of Issue 8, but you have to
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  Speaker 1: vote against Issue 9 in order to make that work
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  Speaker 1: if that's what you want. If you want Issue 8
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  Speaker 1: to pass without those extra at-large people and all that,
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  Speaker 1: Then you have to vote yes on eight, but you
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  Speaker 1: have to vote no and vote down issue nine. If
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  Speaker 1: they both pass. Issue eight dies. Issue nine becomes the
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  Speaker 1: way of the world.
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  Speaker 2: When I went to the public hearing that they held
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  Speaker 2: regarding these two matters, the like union leaders and business
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  Speaker 2: leaders and other folks, they all want the four at
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  Speaker 2: large seats because those at large seats are impossible for
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  Speaker 2: an outside candidate to win. You just can't raise the
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  Speaker 2: kind of money and get the kind of exposure that's required.
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  Speaker 2: I can tell you that from experience and running for
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  Speaker 2: city council and for the mayor's office in the past
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  Speaker 2: since 1995. So that's the reason why the big money,
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  Speaker 2: political interests, those that control city policy want at-large seats.
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  Speaker 2: They can go to those people. They know that those
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  Speaker 2: four at-large seats are going to be endorsed candidates from
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  Speaker 2: the Franklin County Democratic Party who will be under the
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  Speaker 2: control of the powers that be and will be good
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  Speaker 2: foot soldiers and do as they are told to do.
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  Speaker 2: And that's why they want the at-large seats. You're not
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  Speaker 2: going to see union leaders and business leaders and corporations
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  Speaker 2: out there trying to lobby and give campaign money to
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  Speaker 2: outsider candidates like myself and try to convince us that
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  Speaker 2: we're going to be on the take and we're going
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  Speaker 2: to continue to give away tax abatements and run city
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  Speaker 2: policy that supports the needs of them to enhance their
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  Speaker 2: investments and protect their investments. in downtown Columbus or, you know,
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  Speaker 2: their development community and such.
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  Speaker 1: At large, people are far less, as far as I'm concerned,
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  Speaker 1: accountable to the people that vote for them. They, you know,
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  Speaker 1: the money's going to come from, as you said, the corporations,
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  Speaker 1: the unions, the party. Whereas if you live in the,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the area where Joe lives and he's elected
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  Speaker 1: to city council to represent you, or on my beloved
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  Speaker 1: west side, if I got stupid and I was elected,
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  Speaker 1: if I have like a new caddy in front of
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  Speaker 1: my house, you know something's wrong. And you're going to
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  Speaker 1: come go, hey, Chuck, man, what's this all about? Because
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  Speaker 1: I've taken something from someone that I shouldn't have. However,
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  Speaker 1: if you live 60 miles around 270 twice before I
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  Speaker 1: can get to your house, I don't know what you're doing.
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  Speaker 1: When you're serving a community, an area, you're accountable far
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  Speaker 1: more so in there because your neighbors know who you are,
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  Speaker 1: where you live. They're going to stop you while you're
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  Speaker 1: cutting your grass to say, hey, we've got to talk
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  Speaker 1: about this stop sign over here. They have access to you.
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  Speaker 1: That is how government should be. I watched the day
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  Speaker 1: before yesterday, I think it was. Here's me and my
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: old TV watching the Waltons on MeTV. And John Walton,
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  Speaker 1: he went to Charlottesville because he needed to speak to
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  Speaker 1: the president. FDR had to speak to the president. Why?
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  Speaker 1: Because one of his neighbors, a Negro, was in prison
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  Speaker 1: for something he didn't do. And John wanted a pardon
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  Speaker 1: for him. The Negro, by the way, was Columbus's own
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  Speaker 1: Hal Williams, East High School graduate. We just lost him recently.
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  Speaker 1: But he went to speak to the president. And the
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  Speaker 1: guy said, you're not going to speak to the president
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  Speaker 1: about this. Well, John made his case. And, you know,
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  Speaker 1: it's a fictitious portrayal, of course. But Hal Williams was
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  Speaker 1: released from prison and John brought him home to his wife, Bertie,
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  Speaker 1: and said, the last thing the president did before we
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  Speaker 1: lost him was to sign the pardon. Because they worked
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  Speaker 1: the funeral train of FDR into that episode. But it
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  Speaker 1: gave me reason to think about the city council race.
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  Speaker 1: Because although it's a television show, a fictitious portrayal, this
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  Speaker 1: concept of this man going to speak to his president
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  Speaker 1: about a wrong that needed to be righted. There's nothing
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  Speaker 1: wrong with that. That's how we're supposed to be. You
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  Speaker 1: should be able to do that. And I've credited Stenziano Sr.
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  Speaker 1: when he was in the legislature. On West Broad Street
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  Speaker 1: at White Thorn Avenue, there was a house, brick house,
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  Speaker 1: and the front of the house had Stenziano across there.
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  Speaker 1: You could walk in there and speak to your member
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  Speaker 1: of the legislature. He was actually there. Gene Watts, Republican
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  Speaker 1: out in Galloway, the same way you could stop by
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  Speaker 1: Gene's house and say, dude, we need to talk. That accountability,
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  Speaker 1: that one-on-one between the elected official and the person they
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  Speaker 1: are elected to represent should not be an alien concept,
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  Speaker 1: but it is now. And I think this is an
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  Speaker 1: opportunity to change that and bring it back to where
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  Speaker 1: it should be.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, it's interesting. Chuck spoke earlier about area commissions,
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  Speaker 2: and I served on the university area commission back in
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  Speaker 2: the late 1980s and also on the Clintonville Area Commission
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  Speaker 2: as well. And it's interesting that the city Department of
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  Speaker 2: Neighborhood sends these liaisons from the city to come and
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  Speaker 2: speak to the commission and the people that are in
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  Speaker 2: attendance and say, this is what's going on at city
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  Speaker 2: council today or this week. These are the issues, blah, blah, blah.
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  Speaker 2: If you want to talk to, you know, if you
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  Speaker 2: have a question, you can contact me, the liaison, at
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  Speaker 2: such and such phone number or email address, City Council
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  Speaker 2: has two aides as well. So this will actually, in
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  Speaker 2: my opinion, what they should be doing, the city council
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  Speaker 2: person that lives in that district where that area commission
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  Speaker 2: is should be attending those meetings. And that's what's going
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  Speaker 2: to happen, I believe, when this district election thing changes.
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  Speaker 2: They can come to these commission meetings themselves rather than
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  Speaker 2: have their aides or a liaison from the Department of
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  Speaker 2: Neighborhoods or somebody speaking on their behalf. They're the person
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  Speaker 2: that needs to be there You're the person that needs
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  Speaker 2: to address these kind of questions and things. And I
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  Speaker 2: think that's what democracy is all about. It's going to
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  Speaker 2: really help with people feeling that, hey, we do have
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  Speaker 2: representation at city council. You know, we can vote this
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  Speaker 2: person out. We know who they are, what they stand for,
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  Speaker 2: where they live, blah, blah, blah. And you're going to
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  Speaker 2: see other people start springing up and questioning some of
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  Speaker 2: the things that happen in these neighborhoods in these particular
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  Speaker 2: nine districts. And it's just going to improve democracy within
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  Speaker 2: our city and the policy decision makers.
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  Speaker 1: I am hopeful. I'm not overly hopeful because so very
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  Speaker 1: often I see something that I think is common sense
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  Speaker 1: and everybody's going to be on board. And somehow, some way,
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  Speaker 1: the votes are counted and it manages to go the
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  Speaker 1: other way. But I am hopeful. I think we're going
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  Speaker 1: to have a pretty decent turnout in November and, again,
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  Speaker 1: with early voting. being counted in there as well. Please,
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  Speaker 1: please go vote. I hope you agree with what Joe
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  Speaker 1: and I are here talking about right now. But even
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  Speaker 1: if you don't, daggone it, participate in the process. Because
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  Speaker 1: we're sitting here talking about being representative. and having a voice, well,
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  Speaker 1: that's the first step to it, is casting your vote,
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  Speaker 1: going to the polls and casting your vote. And as
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  Speaker 1: I said on the air before, educate yourself. Educate yourself.
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  Speaker 1: You have something here where you've got a Democrat and
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  Speaker 1: a Republican sitting at a table preaching to you in
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  Speaker 1: agreement about something, and that is you deserve better than
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  Speaker 1: what you have. That's why it comes down to. I
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  Speaker 1: don't want to keep you too much longer. Is there
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  Speaker 1: anything that you have not said that you want to
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  Speaker 1: throw in, any websites you want to give where anybody
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  Speaker 1: might want to go to read up on things or
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  Speaker 1: anything like that?
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  Speaker 2: The Our City, Our Say group does have a website,
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  Speaker 2: and they have been holding fundraisers and events, and they're
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  Speaker 2: looking for volunteers in terms of people to stand outside
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  Speaker 2: of the voting poll locations on voting day and also
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  Speaker 2: at early voting up on Morse Road to hand out literature.
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  Speaker 2: So there are volunteer opportunities for that. But, you know,
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  Speaker 2: I just would really encourage people to please, you know,
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  Speaker 2: vote yes on issue eight and vote no on issue nine.
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  Speaker 2: Do not leave issue nine blank. Voting no is going
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  Speaker 2: to help to defeat issue nine. And we just we
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  Speaker 2: just need district elections right now.
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  Speaker 1: I've never seen that before, either, where you have competing
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  Speaker 1: issues and you actually have to vote down the other one.
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  Speaker 1: Do you know if that's ever happened before?
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  Speaker 2: I'm not familiar with it, yeah. I can't recall anything.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not sure what political rabbit got pulled out of
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  Speaker 1: what political hat to accomplish this. But again, you've got
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  Speaker 1: to know what you're doing. And if you're in agreement
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  Speaker 1: with what we're talking about here on representation at city council,
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  Speaker 1: not only you have to vote yes on eight, you
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  Speaker 1: must vote no on nine as well. Otherwise, nine wins.
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  Speaker 1: And that, oh, it won't make me happy. I'll put
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  Speaker 1: it that way. Joe Motil. Thank you so much. You
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: are welcome here anytime. Seriously, if you have anything you
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  Speaker 1: need to announce in the future, please, please, please, you
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  Speaker 1: do know where to find me. Okay, great. Thanks, Chuck.
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  Speaker 2: I appreciate it.