I begin with a question to all residents of Columbus, Ohio. Was any one of you actually fooled by City’s Council several year campaigns of uncontrolled public deception that the rhetorical introduction of residential districts for each councilor and the increase from seven to nine would make any difference at all in the relationships between the undemocratically elected and anti-democratically operating City Council and those who live here and pay taxes and fees?
In the revision to the City Charter, “district representative” is a poor marketing, fraudulent exercise. It actually represents the fear of democracy—not its enhancement as Council President Hardin, President Pro Tempore (of 7) Dorans, and “Mayor” in name only Ginther repeatedly claimed, never with a word of explanation.
They know no more than failing political rhetorical. They know that they would have to be responsible to a defined constituency to be elected and repeatedly re-elected. They know that election about temporary appointment would be very uncertain. That is not the Columbus Way. But it is the constitutional American Way.
Very few residents would accept the fraudulent contention, except what failingly purports to be the “daily media” of Columbus. None of them practice professional fact-based, objective journalism. None of whom ask questions. None of whom fact check. None of whom follow up or respond to documented leads. Most print or read press releases without quotation marks. Most run paid ads for the City.
And few of whom are aware of either spell-check or grammar-check, or on broadcast, practice standard or accepted grammar, vocabulary, or pronunciation. And all of whose employees are indebted financially and in other ways to the City of Columbus.
This is The Columbus Way applied to “governing” by not governing democratically. This is taxation without representation, which incited one American Revolution. This stands out among the city’s swelling roster of degrees of exceptionality along with private over public, control by outside interests, acceptance of “trickle-down economics’ which never worked anywhere at any time, and neglect of the city’s multiple publics and failing social and physical conditions.
An unwritten City code stipulates that City staff and elected “representatives” cannot know either their own city or cities in general. Knowledge of facts, Columbus, and cities in general is outlawed. It shows on every street and sidewalk, and throughout the City’s budget and other actions.
I now have a non-directly elected individual representative who sits according to the fictions of popular referenda regularly written to mislead voters. He stands as the fictitious pretense of being the “representative” of those persons who by default share the same artificially designated north central Columbus district. This is Rob Dorans.
Note clearly: all nine members of Council remain elected at large. None, that is, are elected directly by those who share their district. Therefore, they are not our direct representatives. Not only are they not elected directly, but they are also in no way responsible to us. They have no prescribed responsibilities to those they are paid but not actually required to “represent.” We have no right to recall them, for example. We are not operationally or formally their constituents. And they know that.
The non-representative “representatives” violate dictionary and historical definitions including those written into the US Constitution. Has anyone in the service of the City of Columbus (or the State of Ohio) heard or read of the Revolutionary War for Independence: “no taxation without representation”? Obviously not.
Yet some claim political science and law degrees; Rob Dorans, for example, is paid to represent a non-profit labor group. Does he “represent” them or not? He is paid by them as well as by the residents of Columbus. Emmanuel Remy is an Upper Arlington realtor. Others are employed by public non-profits. How many conflicts of interest riddle city council? No one in the anti-news local “media” either or both knows or reports on this.
After the Nov. 7, 2023, undemocratic, dishonest election, I conducted a controlled experiment, I contacted my re-elected to Council by at-large vote but now overnight my representative solely due to the accident of our residential addresses. This is Rob Dorans, BA, Ohio University, JD, University of Toledo hash of law programs (see its website).
In The Columbus Way, Dorans began his City Council sentence by appointment, not popular election. That is the undemocratic norm of “sponsored mobility.” Dorans happens to live in Clintonville, by chance sharing District 3 in north central Columbus.
Dorans had never even acknowledged prior communications from me regarding his responsibilities as President Pro Tempore—of a group of seven with both a President and a PPT. I wrote to him about misconduct by a council aide and especially his out of tune Zone In (which is actually Zone Out and Up). Never one word of response from him or “President” Hardin.
On Nov. 8, I wrote to Dorans and his two aides. I asked if he in fact represented me. Dorans responded, “If you have a constituent services question please let my office know and we’ll do our best to assist you.”
He did not acknowledge or recognize that I wrote to him as “my representative.” A novel concept, indeed. I responded immediately with a full page providing a selection of my city-related “constituent services questions,” most pertaining to laws and their lack of enforcement.
After several reminders, six days after my email--some of which described urgent issues of safety, Dorans wrote “Please provide any details/documentation you have regarding these issues. Based on your correspondence, many of these issues appear to fall to the Administration from a day to day [sic] enforcement prospective [sic]. Again, we are happy to connect you to the right folks …. “
Can my “representative” neither read nor represent me? I informed him repeatedly that I had attempted to work with employees and department heads for years. I have not yet offered to teach him how to write correctly.
I next asked him to come to my University District home to speak to me in person and for me to show him the neighborhood failures and illegalities. I told him that three of his colleagues had done that along with their aides.
Of course, he declined. Ignoring everything that I informed him, he replied, “I personally find it far more productive to hold a meeting on matters such as these when documentation has been provided prior to said meeting. This allows for a fare [sic[ more robust discussion which will hopefully lead to meaningful steps to address a constituent concerns [sic].”
Taking deep breaths to reduce my mounting frustration—no, my anger, I spent two hours writing a detailed summary of the multiple City failures including Columbus’ own lawbreaking and secret, illegal agreements with private parties and OSU not to enforce laws. I emphasized the lack of public safety and law enforcement.
I emailed that on Nov. 15, one week after I first contacted Dorans as “my representative.” He responded that “once we have a chance to review,” I will hear from him.
Two weeks later, I asked for a response. That was Nov. 29. Weeks later, I am still waiting—and not for Godot, to pun literarily. I have had no concrete response. I will not receive a response. I do not have a responsible responsive “representative.” I continue to be taxed. That is The Columbus Way.
(As to literature, Shannon Hardin--or was it his chief of staff with his tourism background--recently misunderstood Coleridge’s “The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner” and referred to the noble albatross as bad luck when they are good luck. The old sailor wore the carcass around his neck because he was responsible for its death. There is no place for literature or actual art in public in The Columbus Way.)
Has Mb—Hardin’s chief of staff Michael Brown with a degree in journalism and experience in tourism—ordered my “representative” not to respond as he did with another councilor in June 2022? How many elements of the City’s codes of ethics and standards does that violate?
I will invoice Dorans and his City for my time and effort at my professional rate.
I live in District 3. So does Rob Dorans. He refuses to be my “representative.” If he actually has “constituent services,” he excludes this senior citizen, homeowner, and taxpayer. Does he “represent” anyone? Do they live in New Albany? Dorans may be PPT. But is not a “representative” for those of us who by chance share this district.
The district system is an obvious anti-democratic marketing fraud. It should be prosecuted as such, perhaps by Ohio Attorney General Yo Yost or the US Department of Justice. Yost knows fraud well.
References: Essays by Harvey J. Graff
“Columbus City Government is Undemocratic and Disorganized: It’s 2021 and we need a revolution in this city,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, Nov. 20, 2021
“Columbus’ major ‘news media’ against democratic politics and the public,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, Mar. 10, 2022
“Is Columbus really a City?” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, Apr. 7, 2022
“The Columbus Way versus the rights of residents, Part One,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, June 21, 2022
“The Columbus Way versus the rights of residents, Part Two, Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, June 24, 2022
“The Columbus Way versus the rights of residents, Part Three,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, June 27, 2022
“The Columbus Way versus the rights of residents, Part Four,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, June 30, 2022
“Remaking the City of Columbus for the 21st or is it the 20th century?” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, July 5, 2022
“My ongoing struggles for responsibility from the City of Columbus,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, July 12, 2022
“Is Columbus the corruption capital of a corrupt state? Mismanagement, no management, and corruption in the 2020s,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, July17, 2022
“Mr. Mayor and City Council: May I introduce you to the city of Columbus? Beyond the Short North and the Scioto River Bank, there is a diverse complicated city,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, July 31, 2022
“Why won’t Columbus, Ohio, grow up?” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, Oct. 22, 2022
“Abandoned by my elected and unelected officials (unless I pay to play): The Columbus Way, Part One,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, Oct. 30, 2022
“Abandoned by my elected and unelected officials (unless I pay to play): The Columbus Way, Part Two,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, Nov. 2, 2022
“The City that breaks its laws has a police force that refuses to enforce the city’s laws: The Columbus Way, Part One,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, Nov. 13, 2022
“The City that breaks its laws has a police force that refuses to enforce the city’s laws: The Columbus Way, Part Two,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, Nov. 16. 2022
“The plague city: Daily life in Columbus, Ohio,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, Dec. 17, 2022
“Columbus, Ohio: Rude and Crude: The little big city that refuses to represent. serve, or
respect its publics, Part One,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, Jan. 15, 2022
“Columbus, Ohio: Rude and Crude: The little big city that refuses to represent. serve, or
respect its publics, Part Two,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, Jan. 19, 2023
“A city versus its neighborhoods: Columbus, Ohio,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, Jan.
25, 2023
“Unsafe at any speed: The unsafe city—from mayor to city council to CPD,” Busting
Myths, Columbus Free Press, Feb. 16, 2023
“J’accuse: The City of Columbus Division of Public (aka Private) Service,” Busting Myths,
Columbus Free Press, Mar. 3, 2023
“Columbus’ right wing Democrats vs. the city’s publics,” Busting Myths,
Columbus Free Press, Mar. 8, 2023
“A call for reparations from the City of Columbus, the large corporate landlords, and The
Ohio State University for the destruction of neighborhoods with a focus on the
University District,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, Apr. 1, 2023
“Rob Dorans and the real Columbus ‘crew’ vs. the city of Columbus, again,” Busting Myths,
Columbus Free Press, Apr. 8, 2023
“The plague of Columbus’ streets and sidewalks: Electric scooters illegally fueled by the
City’s Division of Public (aka Private) Services,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free
Press, Apr. 14, 2023
“Why does Columbus have no legitimate media” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, Apr.
2023
“Lawless, Unsafe, and Dirty: The Dying University District.” Busting Myths, Columbus
Free Press, May 2, 2023
“Columbus’ identity failure: The mad scramble to fabricate a ‘brand’ for the biggest little
city in the US,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, May 11, 2023
“The private city and the secret city: Columbus is dying and no one in Colemanville knows
or cares. Part One,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, May 20, 2023
“The private city and the secret city: Columbus is dying and no one in Colemanville knows
or cares. Part Two,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, May 25, 2023
“The private city and the secret city: Columbus is dying and no one in Colemanville knows
or cares. Part Three,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, June 2, 2023
“Andy Ginther, Guns, and Unsafe Columbus,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, June
7, 2023
“A week in the life of the failing City of Columbus: One weekend’s low lights,” Busting
Myths, Columbus Free Press, July8, 2023
“The broken, no—the evil—triangle of the City of Columbus vs. its residents. Destroying the
physical city and the semblance of neighborhoods: Zoning (Un)enforcement, Public
(Private) Service, and 311, with the assistance of OSU, the City Attorney, CPD, City
Council, and Mayor, Part One,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, Aug. 4, 2023
“The broken, no—the evil—triangle of the City of Columbus vs. its residents. Destroying the
physical city and the semblance of neighborhoods: Zoning (Un)enforcement, Public
(Private) Service, and 311, with the assistance of OSU, the City Attorney, CPD, City
Council, and Mayor, Part Two,” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, Aug. 8, 2023
“Emergency Bulletin: The City of Columbus, OSU, and landlords against student tenants and
homeowners—dramatic case in point,” Columbus Free Press, Aug. 21, 2023
“A City versus its people. The unjust city: The Columbus Way. Part One,” Busting Myths,
Columbus Free Press, Oct. 22, 2023
“A City versus its people. The unjust city: The Columbus Way. Part Two,” Busting Myths,
Columbus Free Press, Oct. 27, 2023
“Nov. 7, 2023 confirms the continuing reign of anti-democratic Columbus,” Busting Myths,
Columbus Free Press, Nov. 10 , 2023
“The City of Columbus continues to prove itself incapable of learning: The contradiction
and corruption of ever-expanding public subsidies for private development ‘tax
abatements,’” Busting Myths, Columbus Free Press, Nov. 26, 2023
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Harvey J. Graff is Professor Emeritus of English and History, inaugural Ohio Eminent Scholar in Literacy Studies, and Academy Professor, Ohio State University. Author of many books on literacy, children and youth, cities, and interdisciplinarity, most recently he published Searching for Literacy: The Social and Intellectual Origins of Literacy Studies (2022). My Life with Literacy: The Continuing Education of a Historian. The Intersections of the Personal, the Political, the Academic, and Place is forthcoming. “Reconstructing the new ‘uni-versity’ from the ashes of the ‘multi- and mega-versity’” is in progress. He is also editing Changing Paths of Academic Lives: Revising How We Understand Higher Education/Universities, 1960s to 2020s and Beyond, a collection of original essays.
