With a major vote coming up for the city, a city that I am extremely proud to call home... I felt it is important to write about Columbus possibly going to a district system for City Council. The Free Press’ coverage has been good on this, but there are a few things they have missed in this conversation over Columbus and districts. This proposed plan would change the Council from the current seven members citywide to a group of 13 made up of 10 districts and three at-large. The City would have 240 days from the date the voters approve this plan to get the ball moving on this change. This what we are voting for on August 2nd.

On this, I am asking you the reader to Vote Yes for this plan. Originally, I had my doubts about this plan. The truth is as we grow in a world-class city we need to have a system that will keep up with growth. This plan is our best shot to do that to move Columbus forward. There have been arguments placed for it and against it. I would like to address them at this time.

One the biggest arguments I’ve heard against it is “I’ll only be voting for one person instead of four.”  This is untrue. The number of people you’ll be voting for WON’T change. Under the proposed plan you will be voting for three at-large members whom the whole city is voting for like you’ve always have done for years. The only change is with the fourth person. That person would come from your district and will represent your neighbors’ interest because they will come from that district. Now does that sound like a crazy plan? It shouldn’t because your neighborhood would be now have a seat at the table.

Columbus is getting bigger and bigger by the day. Right now, we are at about 822,000 people and we are in an upward track with our population that we could easily be a city of 1,000,000 by 2020. While our City officials may say this a reason not to change, I believe that this is actually the latter. Right now is a chance to put us on a track for growth and it is a great opportunity to make a change.

Mayor Michael B. Coleman said it best when he said “A city that stays the same falls behind.” Right now, our government isn’t working to serve this growing city and it will get worse as our city grows. I see the seeds of it happening every single day. Our government needs to keep up and be agile enough to move with this thriving city. This move to 13 people on our Council, with representatives from 10 districts, can provide us with more voices shaping Columbus’ future and we will be better for it.

Another of the arguments I have heard, mainly from City officials, is that district representation causes divisions and competition over resources. The problem is, this is already happening as areas of Columbus who haven’t experienced the growth that other parts of Columbus have seen, and those citizens have felt like the City has passed them by. I can point them out by name: the South Side, Hilltop, Driving Park, and Near East Side among the areas passed over for funds and renovation. Actually, the reason we are here is because folks on the Near East Side actually led the petition to move this forward.

The argument is usually followed by the following: “We don’t want to bring that Cleveland-style system to Columbus.” The truth is many large cities have this system, but I know what you are saying. We heard all this. Are there any other communities or towns doing this in Central Ohio or even Columbus? Well, yes! Some of our most successful suburbs have a combination of district and at-large members. On the list of many suburbs in just Franklin County alone that have this system are Dublin, Whitehall, Reynoldsburg, and it has worked for them very well.

Our communities deserve an ACTUAL VOICE that is actually deciding what is best for their city. The move to district representation will strengthen our thriving city. It is because of our communities and our people and that is important enough for me to YES for this plan on August 2nd.

Sincerely,
De’Shawn Isaac