Why A Better Columbus
By Leslie Sorrell
January 5, 2020
To transform our city into a place that people desire to call home measured through population growth requires putting the best, most qualified people to work for Team Columbus. To want lawmakers to follow the law, want our tax dollars to be spent wisely, and expect the city to operate effectively and efficiently should be a shared goal among all.
A Better Columbus (“ABC”) just recognized its first year of existence, born in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. ABC is the epitome of grassroots community activism, education, and service. The pandemic may have provided more time for Columbus’ citizens to contemplate how the city was doing operationally and financially.
After reflecting on these matters, a group of citizens that had tried to help the city but were rebuffed grew dissatisfied with the continued deterioration of the city. They observed the rising tax rates, fiscal mismanagement, operational incompetence, and abuse of power. They organically started to meet to share information and discuss what options were available to make Columbus better. Some at City Hall would question the dissatisfaction and say things, such as, “What are you so upset about? It could be worse.” We believe it could be better.
Many had the “feeling” that the mayor and council couldn’t be beat in an election. Some thought the status quo was good enough because other, worse, elected officials may run. Instead of going with a feeling, ABC used real election data to challenge the notion. The data showed that voters were not very inspired by those elected at City Hall. The data also showed the strength of apathy through low citizen involvement. ABC encourages civic involvement to counteract growing apathy.
To find actionable solutions, ABC encourages discussion of the issues and the identification of matters of underperformance or wrongdoing. Through this process there may be some individuals that are mentioned more than others. It may be those individuals have more to explain than others. Since we’re talking about our tax dollars, it becomes the community’s shared concern.
ABC commends the new administration for having a forum, the work sessions days ahead of the council meeting, that is more conducive to open discussion of city matters. The brief city council meetings of the prior administration made it appear that either the matters had been discussed and agreed in secret, that the council members simply followed the lead of the mayor, or both. In fact, the prior administration was admonished for attempting to circumvent the open meetings act to hide their discussions from the public.
ABC is about more than only identifying problems but aims to also provide solutions. We’ve researched what thriving cities do and offered up those as solutions for Columbus. We hope people get on board with a good idea and do not let individual pride get in the way of collective prosperity. ABC is about shining a light on the processes and giving citizens access to information to make their own informed decisions.
Politics is supposed to represent the greatest ideals of our society. Our constitution says voting is a right, but around the world, voting is a privilege. In Columbus, most did not vote and that is their right. But be assured, democracy is a surprisingly fragile process. If we do not actively participate, others will exploit the weakness of our electoral process by taking advantage of poorly maintained voter rolls, by mobilizing voters that do not reside in the precinct, by harvesting mail-in ballots that may have been fraudulently collected, and by bending/breaking election laws and processes to gain an unfair advantage. And that’s what’s been happening in Columbus. All of us are entrusted with preserving and improving our election process. It starts with being an informed voter.
Columbus, where are our leaders? How can one not want to be a part of the best, imperfect system the world knows? Things are changing, but we could use your help. Tell us if you know of questionable activities and we can help obtain the answers and follow up on matters. Attend or watch the council meetings and apply to serve on boards and commissions. Read newspapers, meet with your mayor and council member, and discuss the well-being of the city with your friends and family. Together, let’s work to make A Better Columbus.
Leslie Sorrell is a recovering political consultant, president of ABC, and author of From Clients to Crooks, An Insider Reveals the Real Washington, DC. She is married to Will Sanders, CPA who worked for the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, where he traveled the world auditing the auditors. Together, they have devoted most of their lives to fighting political corruption and financial fraud.
