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Remember Phase 1 of Zone In when the Columbus Mayor and City Council screamed that THE SKY IS FALLING? They spent 2.7 MILLION DOLLARS of taxpayer money just on a marketing campaign to tell us that we had to pass the largest change to the zoning code in the history of the city, one that benefits real estate investors and developers. Remember the City ignoring the questions and concerns of the citizens about parking and not having any master plan? Yeah, that happened.

Remember those manufactured talking points that if we didn’t pass the Zone In proposal the city would also be DESTROYED BY GODZILLA? (Okay, that wasn’t a part of their message, but it would have at least been more entertaining).

Anyway, the entire process was TARGETED PROPAGANDA to create fear while flooding the media with the messages they wanted us to believe. It was a beautiful example of MANIPULATING PUBLIC OPINION and it worked perfectly...for real estate investors and developers.

For our City leadership, EVERYTHING IS AN EMERGENCY because there is no planning or strategy—other than finding new ways to spend money–our money.

This time, the City is making a bond request for a record 1.9 BILLION DOLLARS. What will this bond deliver to you, the tax-paying citizens of Columbus?

  • Does the bond create a state-of-the-art homeless shelter for the city? No. The thousands of homeless in Columbus DON’T VOTE or contribute to politician’s campaign accounts. Therefore, they don’t matter. EMPATHY IS THE ENEMY OF PROFITS.
  • Does the bond attempt to mitigate the effects of CLIMATE CHANGE? No. Unless you count a few million for trees. In contrast, Westerville recently installed their own solar panel system. They are making an investment to mitigate climate change AND save their city money in the long run.
  • Does the bond create housing that is “MORE THAN AFFORDABLE?” No. Our city government believes “affordable” is in the $2,000 a month range. The City needs a quality step below for people to avoid homelessness—but helping these people doesn’t GENERATE PROFITS compared to building more luxury high-rise apartments.
  • Has the public been involved in crafting the bond proposal? No. As usual, there was ZERO INPUT from citizens. No other options are allowed other than those who RULE OUR CITY.

The “cherry on top” is that the entire bond proposal was announced ONE MONTH BEFORE THE VOTE. That helps our CITY RULERS avoid any kind of challenges, questions, or discussion from voters. And yes, I’ve used the term CITY RULERS because neither the Mayor nor the City Council work for you.

The November 4 bond vote reminds me of the federal government’s campaign to control public opinion prior to the invasion of Iraq: “If we don’t invade Iraq, they will develop weapons of mass destruction.” It was all a lie so that oil and weapons companies could get more money. Then again, have you LOOKED AT WHO IS FUNDING the message of this bond?

www.OpportunityCityPAC.com

The marketing flyers (and online video of the Mayor) were created by a POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE (PAC) called “Opportunity City”–not the city, but an outside PAC is asking you the voter to approve more debt. The largest donations to this PAC come from (hold your breath) real estate investors. Look it up yourself. Google “Opportunity City PAC” and read who started the PAC in 2002. I dare you to do the research.

Their motto is that “it won’t raise taxes.” But this begs the question: how will it be paid? NOTHING IN LIFE IS FREE. We won’t just pay for the bond, but we will pay for the staggering interest on the debt (something that is never mentioned). “As of June 30, the City had more than $5.2 billion in outstanding debt to be repaid, according to data from the Columbus Auditor's office. That's up from about $3.8 billion a decade ago.” Columbus Dispatch 10-18-25

And they want to add 1.9 BILLION MORE in debt.

November 4 has nothing to do with approving a 1.9 BILLION DOLLAR bond. On this November 4 Election Day you will again be asked to go against all logic of how good government is supposed to function. You will be asked to believe that NOT WORKING or COMMUNICATING with citizens is the best future for Columbus. November 4 isn’t about the bond. IT’S ALL ABOUT TRUST. It’s about expecting our City government to function and SERVE THE PEOPLE.

Maybe if Columbus City Council had not approved over a HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS a year in property tax giveaways to wealthy developers (tax abatements) the bond request wouldn’t be needed? Decide for yourself, but get out and vote November 4.