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    Joe Motil Wants to Bring a Platform of Equality to City Council as Write-In Candidate

    You won’t see Joe Motil’s name on the ballot when voting for new Columbus City Councilmembers next month. But chances are, you’ve seen his name elsewhere.

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    “As the senior candidate in this race, I have 30 years of community involvement, volunteering, local politics and activism regarding environmental causes, fair wages, battling irresponsible tax proposals, thoughtless development, improving city parks, championing additional drug rehab and detox centers and more,” he said during an in depth interview with Columbus Underground.

    Motil prides himself on his long history of community involvement, which includes past memberships on the University Area Commission, the Columbus Historic Resources Commission, the Board of Directors for the Friends of the Lower Olentangy Watershed, the Tuttle Park Community Recreation Council, and several other organizations. He was the Vice-President of the organization that defeated the Morse-Bethel Connector, worked with the group that defeated the original ballot issue to fund Nationwide Arena with public tax dollars, and fought to preserve historic buildings including the Clinton Theatre, Clinton Annex and the Ohio Penitentiary.

    The jump from civic engagement to elected office seems like a very logical step for Motil, and this isn’t his first attempt. In fact, 2015 marks the 20th anniversary of when he first ran for a seat on Columbus City Council.

    “My first run for public office was in 1995 for the unexpired term race against Democratic incumbent Lisa Griffin and Republican Peggy Fisher,” he explained. “Ms. Griffin lost in part due to my running in that race and was the last incumbent Democrat on City Council to lose an election.”

    While Motil didn’t win the seat, he did gain the support of the Franklin County Democratic Party in 1998 for an attempt for a seat in the Ohio House of Representatives. He tried out for Columbus City Council once again in 2003, and as a write-in candidate in 2009. While his passion for public service hasn’t waned, Motil said that he has lost his taste for the partisan ideology involved in the process.

    I tried to fit in with party politics, but I felt that structure does not allow for individuals like myself to think and apply public policy that is not approved of from party leadership,” he said. “I have been an Independent for a number of years now, and although I am not a member of the Franklin County Green Party, I recently received the honor of gaining their endorsement.”

    The Green Party endorsement sounds like a good fit for his ideals, as Motil traces his political viewpoints back to his childhood in the sixties.

    “I believe growing up in the turbulent times of the civil rights era, and watching the horrific events of racism take place on television had an impact on my views of inequality and unfairness,” he explained. “The assassinations of President Kennedy, his brother Robert and Doctor King began to raise serious questions in my mind and others about equal rights.”

    Motil said that inequality and unfairness continue to be an important part of the political conversation today.

    “We have over 170,000 persons of poverty in Columbus and they and others have suffered long enough,” he said. “They cannot wait any longer as economic inequality grows by the day. If elected to Columbus City Council I will establish a City Ordinance requiring that employers with 15 or more employees and a gross income over $500,000 be required to pay their employees a minimum wage of $11.00 an hour effective June 1, 2016.”

    Further, Motil says that he would waive Income Tax payments for the first $8,000 of wages for anyone making less than $32,000 per year. He said that this type of plan would provide better financial stability for working middle class families in Columbus, particularly in neighborhoods that need the extra help.

    “Establishing a minimum wage increase for Columbus’s working poor will also benefit small business in all neighborhood commercial corridors,” said Motil. “No one is traveling from German Village, Grandview, Upper Arlington or Clintonville to shop in the North & South Linden neighborhoods. The people in the Linden neighborhoods must be able to support their own businesses first and hopefully grow into a destination for others someday.”

    Motil said that a similar approach to urban development should be taken in the future to encourage larger companies to invest in neighborhoods like Linden or the Near East Side.

    A healthy Downtown business district is important, but the spending of our tax dollars are being disproportionately divided,” he explained. “I favor tax abatement only when development occurs in distressed or blighted areas with the hope of attracting further investment into such areas. Tax abatements should not be used for the sole purpose of job creation.”

    While residential development shows now sign of slowing, Motil says that there’s an untapped opportunity to include requirements for affordable housing integrated with market rate or luxury apartments. 

    “The construction of a new apartment building with 10 units or more should be required to provide 10 percent of its units for individuals that meet the requirement of needing affordable housing,” he said. “In order to help the developer offset rental fees, they would be allowed to reduce the square footage of the unit but not skimp on amenities such as refrigerators, stove, dishwasher, bathroom toilets & sinks and shower installations. The majority of new construction for housing in this city is priced out of reach for the working poor… we can do better.”

    Motil added that Columbus could be doing better in the realm of public transportation too.

    “Discussion of some type of rail system has been going on for decades, and money has been available and either the State of Ohio, City of Columbus or both continue to scoff at the idea,” he said. “If our past leadership had the political willpower and courage to have followed through when the idea was first being tossed around decades ago, we would have been ahead of the game by now. But even more importantly, those who need jobs the most cannot get to where the jobs are.”

    With less than four weeks until election day on November 3rd, Motil recognizes that he has an uphill battle to face as a write-in candidate. Running a campaign on top of a busy day job means a lot of long hours and extra pots of coffee. He explained that the struggle is worthwhile though, as his long term passion for Columbus is something that fuels his drive in the election.

    “I would hope that my ideas and values display my genuine concern for the city that I have called home for 59 years,” he said. “As an athlete I have participated in sports with a wide range of people and cultures, and while playing piano in a jazz quintet back in the day, I had the opportunity to perform at the very first Gallery Hop. I have spearheaded the commissioning of outdoor murals at Tuttle Park for nearly 16 years, and I have reinforced the importance of diversity for my children by enrolling them into our Columbus Public Schools from kindergarten through their high school graduations. Through my 30 years of community activism I have gained a knowledgeable understanding of people from all ages and walks of life and how to help them.”

    For ongoing discussion and updates on the 2015 Columbus City Council elections, CLICK HERE to visit our Messageboard.

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    Walker Evans
    Walker Evanshttps://columbusunderground.com
    Walker Evans is the co-founder of Columbus Underground, along with his wife and business partner Anne Evans. Walker has turned local media into a full time career over the past decade and serves on multiple boards and committees throughout the community.
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