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Columbus City Council By Ernie J. ShannonOctober2009The old Brooklyn Dodgers had a saying after continually losing to the New York Yankees in the World Series—“Wait ’tilnext year!” Franklin County Republicans might say the same thing, with a slight caveat—“Waittwo more years!” That’s because Democrats will likely extend their control of Columbus City Council to nearly fivedecadesthis Novemberwhen three hapless Republican candidates for council give newmeaning to the term “swimming upstream” and join theirbrothersand sisters in theproverbial trash heap of failed GOP campaigns.Even more impressive: it will be seven years since the last Republican served oncouncil. That kind of political domination one would expect to see in such traditionalDemocratic strongholds as Chicago, Detroit,or even Cleveland. But Columbus?Ahistorian would have to go back to December 1965 to find the last ColumbusCity Council led by Republicans.

That November’s vote catapulted Democrats to amajority of seats on councileffective in January1966,andDemocratshave never looked back. In 2002, the last Republican left council chambers,and the party has effectivelybeen locked out of city hall ever since.

That this disappearance from city hall may be more than a momentary swing of the political pendulum is evidenced by Columbus population demographics that heavilyfavor Democrats in citywide races.

In fact,the question may no longer be whether the city might ever enjoy a two-party presence downtown again, but whether the rulingDemocratic party is willing to broaden debate within its own ranks. And those ranks havebecome so closed that Democratic candidates for re-election to council have taken torunning as a team,sharing campaign dollars and advertising,further overwhelming their Republican opponents and any Democrat foolish enough to buck the party and run as aloneranger.

Since 2003, Democrats on council have had no other party or persuasion to get intheir way as they’ve had full sway on all issues coming to council chambers. Hence,

“Democratic control of council since 1965” (Columbus Dispatcharticle Nov. 4, 1987; online archives - Article 71 of 341)

“The last Republican leaving city hall in 2002” (Columbus Dispatch article Nov. 7, 2007; online archives- Article 44 of 123)

“Columbus population demographics” (Columbus Dispatch article Nov. 7, 2007 when Franklin CountyGOP referred to Columbus not your father’s city; online archives - Article 44 of 123)

“Democratic candidates running as a team and sharing campaigndollars” (Columbus Dispatch article Nov. 5, 1997 referring toTeam Coleman; online archives - Article 41 of 103)

there’s no mystery what policy the council will follow on most issues, rather what flavorthey will choose. For while Columbus is not the only city with a Democratic-controlledgovernment, it is one of the very few of its size that has as few as seven council members,exercises no term limits, and elects each one from an at-large arrangement rather than adistrict representation.

Perhaps most unusual, Columbus may well be the only large cityin the United States in which every council member who has served in the last 25 yearshas been initially appointed rather than elected—save three. And two of those wereRepublicans.

In a comparison with four other Midwest communities, Cleveland, Cincinnati,Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh, Columbus clearly has the least accessible city council interms of diversity and innovative thinking. In this case, diversity does not refer to race orgender, but to new blood. For instance, Cincinnati, with a population of more than333,000(Columbus has a population of nearly three quarters of a million),has ninecouncil members who are elected as at-large candidates and who serve only two-yearterms.

The two-year service means that they come before the voters as an entire councilmore frequently than the Columbus council and are therefore more accountable for theirpolicies during those 24 months. This makes retiring from or being appointed to councilmore problematic and, thus, a rarity in Cincinnati.

In Cleveland, with a population of more than 433,000, council is made up of 21members serving wards. At least eight of the currentcropof council members have beenappointed.

While all 21 councilmen and councilwomen are declared Democrats, the

“For while Columbus is not the only city with a Democratic-controlled government . . .” (I came to this conclusion not only byreferencing Cleve, Cinc, Indi, and Pitts specifically, but also inbriefly looking at Wikipedia’s “Cities by Population” and lookingat Jacksonville, Austin, Fort Worth and Charlotte. Because thesecomparisons were not detailed, I left the door open by saying “veryfew” rather than saying “the only”).

: “Perhaps most unusual . . .” (I drew similar conclusions here. I’massuming there aren’t too many cities with councils functioningexactly like Columbus, but my research only involved the above-mentioned communities).

“Population quotes” (Wikipedia’s “Cities by Population”). In thefollowing articles, the Dispatch does a good job of not onlyreferencing the winners and losers, but giving a little backgroundas to how the candidates initially came to council.

Cincinnati City Council organization (City of Cincinnati officialweb site; Cincinnati City Council official web site).

Cleveland City Council organization (Interview with Patricia

requirement to represent wards of approximately 23,000 citizens each producescompetitive intra-party battles and provides for a much broader range of debate andpolicy development. The large number of wards in a city of less population thanColumbus means that individual sections of Cleveland have more direct access tocouncil. There are logical reasons why most legislative bodies across the countryrepresent districts whether they are Congressional, state legislative, or city councilbodies. And those reasons revolve around representation and accountability to voters.The city of Indianapolis has an even more unique governmental organization. Thecity and the surrounding Marion County are governed by the Indianapolis city council.This council consists of 29 members representing 25 districts with four at-large seats. Inthe 2007 election, Republicans gained a 16 - 13 edge to claim a majority. This relativelyeven split in party affiliation on council is due to a unique Unigov arrangement betweenIndianapolis and Marion County,Indiana.

The city of Indianapolis dominates the county,and so the two governments havemerged to form a council that represents the stronger Democratic-controlledinner-citypopulation and the more pervasive Republican populationin the countysurrounding thecapital city. This unusual organization provides county voters who support the citythroughtheir daily commutes to and from Indianapolis,a voice in city business.On the other hand,Franklin County, Ohioresidents and others who work in Columbus now face the prospect of paying taxes to the city while having no representation in city governmentthanks to arecent tax increase approved by Columbus voters. Pittsburgh, a city governed by a Democratic mayor and council for as long asanyone can remember (at least back to the mid-1930s),has nine members from ninedistricts. Council members are restricted by term limits,and elections are often heated aspolicy debates can be wide-ranging between Democratic candidates. The limitation ontermsmeansthat the party must consistently recruit fresh talent,and appointments to council are rare.

Britt, clerk of council; interview with Martin Hauserman, councilhistorian; City of Cleveland official web site; Cleveland CityCouncil official web site; Google search of individual councilmembers).

Indianapolis City Council organization (Indy.Gov web site; citycouncil biographies; Google search of individual council membersand Unigov organization).

Pittsburgh City Council organization (Pittsburgh.pa.us/councilsite; city council biographies; Google search of individual councilmembers).