10/25/2017
For those of you paying attention to the race for Upper Arlington City Council, I thought I’d break it down. Having served two terms on council, I have specific experience which might be helpful to those seeking clarity (If you are already dug in, stop reading now – no offense taken. This is my opinion and I’m not up for a FB thread debate).
Based on yard signs, mailings and fundraising, Lynch, Close and Greenhill are in front by a large margin (which does NOT ensure a win, but certainly helps). All are worthy of your vote! Following them, it’s a three horse race of Hoyle, Foulk and Burriss (Toms and Ganoom appear to have no momentum….). I make no bones that Hoyle is my preferred candidate as her experience in public finance will be immensely helpful to the next council. Frankly, council will need someone that understands the complexities of governmental finance – Michelle could write a book! My hat is off to Burriss, who seems to be running a terrific, grass roots campaign. However, she needs to understand that UA City Council is about streets, parks, sidewalks and sewers and not about making UA a sanctuary city or LGBT initiatives (these are her passions and central to her campaign. While these are important issues, they are not relevant to this local race). In regard to Foulk, I’ve seen him operate over the past several years – in summary, he is not someone our residents should elect. Yes – he’s done a masterful job aligning himself with disaffected persons. If there is an anticommunity activity taking place, Bob will likely be among the ringleaders. I was curious how others on council and within the city felt about him – I could not find one person that supports Mr. Foulk’s candidacy. If you are one of the angry, “throw the bums out” then Foulk is your guy. He will not build consensus nor has he brought one meaningful idea forward. Somehow he has been able to convince people he “saved UA from outsourcing 911 to Columbus”, which is a massive distortion of the truth. Columbus was one of several options in consideration. After thorough evaluation, the city made the right choice opting for the Northwest Regional Center. We would have made this choice without Foulk stirring up controversy and confusing elderly residents. I could go on and on, but those that support him are not going to see the light.
In conclusion I’m hopeful that Greenhill, Lynch, Close and Hoyle are elected on November 7th!
