News

Hello Columbus.

After a much-needed sabbatical from writing about the social issues that I feel are important, not only to me in my present life, but to my children, and all of the grandchildren that will be from the seeds of my womb, I have decided it is time to start my articles again.

I spoke with a young man, doesn’t matter the race, who said he was twenty-eight years old. I don’t know how we got on the subject, but voting came up. He said it was a “waste of time to vote.”

I have learned that it is better to speak logical when speaking with young people in regard to political matters. In fact, in regard to anything that pertains to adulthood and life. I speak to them where they live.

The family, friends and allies of Donovan Lewis converged on Columbus Police headquarters Friday, September 2 to protest his murder. Chants of "No justice, no peace!" and calls for firing  Columbus police officer Ricky Anderson, who killed hte unarmed 20-year-old Lewis in his bed when delivering a warrant in the middle of the night, were interpersed with shouts of "Say his name!" "Donovan Lewis."

Once again, a trigger-happy Columbus police officer shot and killed an unarmed Black man. Police bodycam footage shows at least four officers and a police dog entering 20-year old Donovan Lewis’ home in the middle of the night August 30 to execute a warrant. Within a few minutes, Officer Ricky Anderson executed Lewis instead. This time it was one out of three police shootings in Columbus in eight days, although the other two victims survived.

“Columbus Police didn’t even attempt to de-escalate or negotiate with Donovan Lewis. Yet another case of an innocent person killed as the result of trigger-happy training. These things are constantly happening for a reason, the mentality and poor judgment of today’s law enforcement training,” said Cynthia Brown, who’s spearheading the effort to end qualified immunity in Ohio.

Qualified immunity protects government employees from civil suits, and arguably has evolved into absolute immunity for police.

Central Ohio rank-and-file Kroger employees, who are also United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) 1059 members, for a second time in a month overwhelmingly voted “No” to a new three-year contract even though the contract had been endorsed by UFCW 1059. 

A 40-year Kroger employee, who is also a UFCW 1059 steward, told the Free Press that membership’s next vote could be a vote “to strike.”

“In my 40 years we have never voted to strike. We have voted ‘No’ on contracts, but I cannot recall a time when we were going to vote to strike,” they said on the condition of anonymity.

The vote was 1,722 “No” to 677 “Yes.” The union steward believes roughly half the membership did not vote, and suggested it wasn’t due entirely to apathy, but because UFCW 1059 only offered four voting locations throughout Columbus, making it difficult for single mothers and those who work outside Franklin County.

I’ve had four encounters with Columbus City Council President Shannon G. Hardin since the beginning of the summer.

The first three happened in early June: the executive committee of the Columbus Coalition for Rent Control, of which I’m a member, met with him and Councilmember Shayla D. Favor, Chair of the Housing, Public Health, and Criminal Justice committees on City Council. We had a meeting to discuss whether our petition and their “Housing For All” legislative package had any overlap.

The second was at the panel discussion and “Town Hall” event meant to introduce an educational campaign about said legislation.

After the “Town Hall” – a dog-and-pony show during which three people from the committee were allowed to pose questions to a panel of bureaucrats and an elected official who had nothing to do with the legislation – Council President Hardin asked me what I thought of the proposed legislation.

“It looks like a good framework,” I said, adding, “But – ”

“But it needs to have some teeth,” interjected Hardin. He followed that up by saying, “Thank you for everything you do. Keep holding us accountable – I mean it.”

Joe Motil, former Columbus City Council candidate and longtime community advocate who has begun circulating petitions to run for Mayor in the 2023 May primary election states, “On the eve of the 59th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s 'I Have a Dream Speech' an act of civil disobedience took place in the front yards of Council President Shannon Hardin, City Attorney Zach Klein and Councilwoman Shayla Favor’s homes. Reverend Gary Witte and I peacefully protested the failure of city policy to address our rising homeless crisis in Columbus. We established camp in the front yard of Mr. Hardin’s far east side home.  Three other advocates for the homeless camped in the front yard of City Attorney Zach Klein and two others at the residence of Councilwoman Shayla Favor.”

"Shannon Hardin is a graduate of Morehouse College. This is the same college that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. attended and graduated, and where he practiced his skills as a champion of civil of civil rights and civil disobedience. It appears that Hardin finds Dr. King’s faith, philosophy and acts of civil disobedience unlawful and distasteful.”

Mayoral candidate Joe Motil and long-time advocate for the homeless Rev. Gary Witte are arrested for trespassing at the home of Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin. Activists set up tents on the lawns of three members of Columbus City Council to protest the sweeps of homeless camps and the failure of City officials to provide affordable housing. 

Joe Motil, former Columbus City Council candidate and 37-year community advocate who is  circulating petitions to run for mayor in the 2023 May primary election states that, “As a [former] school board member, president of City Council and mayor, Andy Ginther’s decades-long practice of handing out hundreds of millions of dollars in tax abatements to corporate Columbus and luxury real estate developers has defunded public education to the point where CEA members have said enough is enough. If those on the receiving end of tax abatements and TIFs paid their fair share of property taxes, a bargaining agreement between the CEA and School Board would have been settled by now.”   

Motil continues, “The CEA’s decision to strike has been a longtime coming. Ginther, City Council and School Board members for too long have sacrificed much-needed property tax revenue and the educational needs of our city’s public schools and children, to fill the bank accounts of developers and  provide corporate welfare to our city’s wealthiest and most 'beloved' companies.”      

Columbus teachers are now on strike. In an overwhelming showing of solidarity and determination, 94 percent of members of the Columbus Education Association (CEA), the union that represents over 4,500 teachers and staff of Columbus City schools, voted in favor of a strike during a dramatic mass meeting of CEA members held Sunday night. Thus, after many months of failed negotiations with the Columbus Board of Education, the strike officially commenced at 12:01 AM on Monday, August 22. This is the first time teachers in Columbus City Schools have gone on strike since 1975.

For the first time since 1975, Columbus City School (CCS) teachers over the weekend voted to strike and now the entire nation is paying attention.

On CNN this morning, its bottom-of-the-screen news ticker is telling the story of how Columbus – considered one of the last American-boom towns with Intel poised to invest billions into the region – can’t provide all of its students air conditioning, among other head-scratching short comings for Ohio’s largest school district.

On Day 1 of the strike teachers were picketing out in front of the Columbus school’s admin buildings at 3700 S. High Street, among many other locations.

Overnight, teachers and supporters took to Reddit and other online platforms seeking solidarity and action from the public.