Former Columbus City Council candidate Joe Motil has been an outspoken critic of Columbus City Council’s charade of its appointment process and the musical chair schemes it uses to control  who holds a seat on Columbus City Council.        

Motil states that, “Today’s announcement of Columbus City Councilman Mitch Brown stating that he will be retiring on December 31, 2021 and will not be seeking re-election, will now open the door for two new appointed candidates on the ballot who will be running for City Council this November.”

Motil says, “Tyson’s and Brown’s retirement announcements were a predetermined ploy while trying to avoid criticism from going through the sham of selecting someone through the normal appointment process. When, in fact, Priscilla Tyson and Mitch Brown intentionally deceived those who signed their petitions while knowing all along that they were placeholder candidates. If elected in November, the two new candidates will claim they were not appointed but elected outright. By being a placeholder, candidates without letting the public know until now, Tyson and Brown most likely kept other potential candidates from getting on the ballot who would have been more interested in running for an open seat on city council rather than going up against an incumbent. This is just another instance of Columbus' establishment Democrats using deception to avoid competition and to maintain their control and power on City Council.”

Motil further claims that, “The two new candidates will be “officially selected” by the five individuals named as the Nominating Committee on the Tyson, Brown, and Hardin petition. The nominating committee members in actuality will be directed by local Democratic party officials as to who the two new puppet City Council candidates will be. The two new candidates along with City Council President Shannon Hardin will run as team while benefitting from Hardin’s financing of the campaign and the sample ballot endorsement of the Franklin County Democratic Party.”    

Motil concluded that, ”The two new candidates who have yet been named, were decided on long ago by the controlling powers of City Hall and Democratic party leaders. The requirements to serve on Columbus City Council remains the same. The selected individuals were vetted as trustworthy foot soldiers who will not rock the boat, young and impressionable, and looking to advance a political career. Just another ingredient of The Columbus Way.”