Recently, I attended a town hall meeting with the three candidates running for District 7 Columbus City Council. The residents at the event live in District 7 and love Columbus. They love our city so much that they took their valuable time and energy to attend and ask questions. Unfortunately, nobody had the courage to tell them that THEIR VOTE DOESN’T MATTER to Columbus City Council.

Our Republicans in the state capital rule Ohio with “gerrymandering” mixed with a generous amount of hate and a dash of religion. Jealous as always, Columbus City Council has their own upside-down version of “Gerrymandering” that they are proud to call “Citymandering.”

Sure, the residents of District 7 will vote in the primary election Tuesday, May 6, but so will EVERYONE ELSE IN COLUMBUS. My wife and I live on the Far East side. We have no clue what’s important to the residents of District 7. Yet, our votes will count just as much as theirs. It’s just like “gerrymandering,” but for Democrats instead of Republicans.

Our best friends who live in the University district don’t know about the challenges of residents who live in District 7 either, but that DOESN’T MATTER TO CITY COUNCIL. The whole city gets to decide what is best for District 7 just like an intoxicated parent might decide what bedtime is best for their neighbor’s child. The residents of District 7 will still be required to pay the salary of their new member of City Council; they just WON’T HAVE DIRECT CONTROL OF WHO IT WILL BE.

And no, it’s not by accident. When City Council moved to the new system of nine districts they left this insulting system in place to guarantee that it’s next to impossible to run for office… UNLESS YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN BY CITY DEMOCRATS (or have corporate America funding your campaign).

Need more proof of “Citymandering”? – look no further than the other district elections for City Council that ARE ALL UNOPPOSED. It’s not that the rest of the city loves our political rulers who continue to cut property taxes for rich developers and shift the cost of funding police, fire, and public schools to everyone else. They just know that running a campaign against an incumbent is a lot like spitting into the wind when you live in Columbus. CITY COUNCIL CONTROLS THEIR OWN ELECTIONS. NOT YOU.

So this May 6 the entire city will decide who wins the District 7 primary and NOT JUST THE PEOPLE who live in District 7. It’s an open city-wide election. It’s the Democrat’s own version of “gerrymandering” and they love it because it WORKS FOR THE POLITICIANS AND NOT THE PEOPLE. Welcome to one-party city “gerrymandering.” Chair Sexton loves it more than the dessert table at Old Country Buffet and they will never change it. Members of City Council have donated thousands of dollars and have even been out knocking on doors to ensure that their TOTAL RULE CONTINUES WITHOUT QUESTION.

State Republicans use “gerrymandering” to insure than they will always be in power. The Columbus City Council uses “Citymandering” to control every election in Columbus. “Citymandering” works for City Council, the rich, and the powerful… just not for the future of our great metropolis. Yes, “Citymandering” works – for Columbus City Council.

See you at the voting booth this Tuesday, May 6. At least City Council allows us to pretend that Columbus still has a democracy; at least for now.