Lead exposure is an urgent issue in Ohio. These last two weeks I had the opportunity to watch the Columbus City Council meeting discussing Columbus’ initiative to replace all lead pipes in the city over the next 13 years. I attended the subsequent meeting in person, in which changes to the project were passed.

In these meetings, Council member Christopher Wyche heard from Emilie Eskridge, a Regulatory Compliance Manager from Columbus’ Division of Water, on proposed changes to Columbus’ lead service line replacement project. The changes proposed and later passed in the meeting I attended allocated $1 million of the City of Columbus’ 2025 budget to homeowners in the area for the replacement of their lead service lines. This means any homeowner, regardless of income status, can apply to be allocated between $5,000-7,000 for the replacement of toxic service lines to their homes. This is just an adjustment to the city’s overall plan to allocate $1.3 billion over the next 13 years to complete a full replacement.

 While these meetings covered 10s of issues each, I chose to focus solely on the Lead Elimination Assistance Program (LEAP) as it is particularly important to me. Over this last summer I worked with Scioto Analysis, a Columbus-based policy analysis firm, on a Cost Benefit of proposed legislation to replace all lead service lines in Ohio. Lead contamination poses significant risks to childhood development and long-term health. Ohio is overly vulnerable to this, housing 8.1% of US lead service lines despite representing only 3.6% of the population, underscoring the urgency of addressing this issue. The findings of our study indicate that this initiative would grow Ohio’s economy by an estimated $145-185 billion over the next 15 years, with benefits outweighing costs by a 31:1 ratio.

Now you may ask yourself, why does this legislation belong on a democratic erosion blog page? A democracy is a political system in which power is vested to the people, and representative of their desires. The changes proposed to the LEAP program are a fundamental representation of this definition. The goal of this amendment to the program is to provide the citizens of Columbus with the option to exercise their desire to bring about the removal of dangerous lead service lines. This is giving the people direct say over their actions through a government program, something promising to the state of our democracy.

Programs such as this give citizens increased hope and promote democratic participation. Solt claims in his 2008 study that in areas with high income inequality, such as Columbus, political interest amongst poorer citizens is, “Sharply depressed,” (Solt, 56). This can be for many reasons, but primarily it is viewed as a result of decreased representation. From sitting in the council meeting, I found this legislation to be something which could reverse Solt’s findings. This legislation’s efforts to promote political engagement amongst all wealth brackets can serve as a motivating factor for future political engagement. I personally would be more inclined to engage in political conversations at Columbus town hall meetings if they covered a $7,000 lead pipe replacement at my house. While Solt’s research primarily focuses on federal engagement, this still serves as model program for increasing political engagement.

This town hall meeting also demonstrated how the bureaucracy associated with democracy is not always a negative variable. We have discussed in our classes how bureaucratic structures can be inefficient, creating stalemates in passing legislation and decreasing public support for the system. While this creates an environment ripe for the erosion of democratic norms, it did not seem to be the case in my visit to city council. During the city council meeting that I attended, it made our government look like a well-oiled machine. There was a clear outlined agenda and quick action in passing proposed legislation. Members on either side of the court addressed each other with respect and a genuine desire to improve the lives of the Columbus residents. While this is just a one-time visit, it did reinforce my faith in the responsibility of our government to pass legislation that matters, and efficiently at that. 

My visit to Columbus’ town hall meeting served to reinforce (some of my) faith in the systems of our government. It was of great satisfaction to see initiatives for lead pipe replacement take place during my visit, but also the efficiency at which it did. The legislation serves to improve the lives of those within Columbus, regardless of income status, restoring faith in our systems to an extent for me. Furthermore, the speed at which this amendment was approved demonstrated to me the benefits of the bureaucratic system of democracy when approached with mutual respect. These have helped restore my faith that despite the unmotivating circumstances currently in American politics, it’s possible to overcome them with good intentions.