Turns out it’s not impossible for politicians to agree on some things. Or at least that’s what the Columbus City Council would have you believe. Maybe it’s just a local politics thing.

City Hall sits in the heart of downtown Columbus and hosts the City Council meetings. I attended their meeting on October 7th to see what it was all about. I had never attended one of these in Columbus or anywhere else before. Truthfully, I have rarely engaged in local politics, so it was all around very new. 

The meeting commenced with the national anthem, the pledge of allegiance, and then a prayer. All the council members sat at the front of the room behind their desks. President Shannon Hardin sat in the middle and the tallest above the others. Outward from him sat the other members angling towards each other and the rest of the room.

A majority of the meeting consisted of each member reading off ordinances for different committees. They would read off exactly what the ordinance would do and then the money required for it, and then it would go to each council member for passage. Interestingly enough, it seemed that most, if not all, of it did. 

I had gone in expecting more debate on the ordinances they were trying to pass. I expected more questions being asked by the other council members. If that debate existed, it was not part of the regular meeting. The most I heard of the members not agreeing with the ordinance was abstaining, and even that was rare. 

There is so much polarization going on in this country that I expected there to be more back-and-forth on issues. However, all the council members seemed to be in agreement on the ordinances that they were trying to get through. I am so used to looking at politics at the federal, or even international, level that to see democracy done locally was a welcome change.

Now, thinking about it afterward, it’s not too difficult to see why these things are different. For one, Columbus is largely Democrat, so I’d expect that the members aren’t too divided ideologically. 

But they also just don’t have as much ground to cover. It’s easier to see where the money should go when you only have one, albeit large, city to cover. The members seemed to well understand the current issues facing Columbus and how they wanted to combat them. 

Many topics were covered at the meeting that I found particularly interesting. 

The first was about a cybersecurity leak that had apparently hit Columbus earlier this year. I was unaware of the event, but they believed it to be linked to a foreign organized crime group. They are still working on getting all of the systems restored and requested more funding for that and to improve the cybersecurity in the future. 

Then there was one member of the community that came forward to speak and requested money from the council to refurbish homes in Columbus. He talked about seeing the rundown homes in his neighborhood and how he believed they could be brought back to life, rather than torn down.

It was nice to see that it wouldn’t only be the council members talking amongst themselves, but there was room for others to come forward and speak. The council did not seem to make any decisions on his request at the meeting itself, but hopefully it will get some consideration. 

Some other ordinances that passed were funding for the creation of new jobs through Gifthealth and for the construction of low income apartment complexes. The members made mention of the crisis over unhoused people and unemployment in Columbus, and how these ordinances would hopefully help those populations. 

We hear so many politicians at the state and federal level talking about the economic issues happening in the United States. However, it’s rare that we can truly see legislation pass that would help those things, and even rarer that we see that legislation have a direct impact on our local communities. 

Attending the council meeting allowed me to see how helpful the local governments can be. This is funding that is directly helpful to the city and residents of Columbus. With misinformation so prevalent in politics right now, it was nice to hear the local politicians in this meeting and hear exactly what they wanted to say and what they were trying to do. 

And ordinances were not the only thing shared by the council members. They also shared new events that would be happening in Columbus. One member shared that the blood donation goal for Sickle Cell Awareness month had been exceeded. Another shared a Latino Arts Festival on October 18th.

It truly felt like proof that this council was giving back to its community. It was not only about the council spending more of the city funds. There were events shared all around Columbus that any resident could take part in. 

While I said previously that there had not been much debate among the members on ordinances, there was one, which I found interesting. One of the ordinances was a request for more Diesel-powered garbage trucks in Columbus. According to the council, there was currently a shortage of trucks and an overflow of trash impacting residents. 

Something that did get a little push back was how these Diesel trucks would impact the environment. It did not prompt much too much debate. The entire council seemed to agree that the garbage collection was a problem impacting the people, and that the purchase of new trucks was still necessary.

Still, even among a council with so much agreement it was interesting to see them bring up some of the problems they saw with the ordinances. Politics, even at the local level, is all about give and take. I could see what the members were willing to give up so they could get something done.

Overall, I enjoyed my experience at the council meeting. Local government is not talked about enough for all that they try to do for the communities they represent. Attending them is actually a great way for people to be informed on what is happening in their communities.