Four Athens Residents Contend for Open City Council Position

Four new Democratic candidates emerged to compete with current councilpersons Chris Knisely and Scott Patterson for a seat on Athens City Council this May. The third current At-Large Councilperson, Elahu Gosney, said he does not plan on running for a fourth term.The director of the Athens County Historical Society and Museum, a licensed massage therapist and mother of two, a manager at the locally-owned Avalanche Pizza and the director of an art studio will compete for votes in the next election.Ron Luce, director of the Athens County Historical Society and Museum, wants the city to follow the city code more closely.“I am a very civic-minded and interested in trying to help Athens to grow,” Luce said.Luce appeared before city council recently and found a number of issues with Athens City Code. He attended board meetings and planning commission meetings while closely studying the city code and decided those issues needed to be addressed.“I decided that I could offer something to the city if the people are interested in it, and I am at a stage in a life where I want to give back to community and serve people,” Luce said. “It is what I do well. I decided I have to become more active to accomplish some of the things I want. I have a strong vision of the city being one of the most beautiful places anywhere and capable of being one of the best of little cities in the nation.”Luce hopes to encourage cleanliness and safety levels in the city through stricter upkeep of city roads, sidewalks, plumbing and other infrastructure. With a cleaner, more beautiful city, he hopes the tourism industry picks up in Athens.“Part of what makes our city great is we have a lot of history – the buildings, the brick streets are very appealing to people who like a sense of the past, but we are also very progressive. I think those two can live side by side,” he said.Luce hopes to pass legislation ensuring that Athens is one of the safest cities anywhere, that people are comfortable in their own homes and able to enjoy their property peacefully. He said additional legislation is needed to ensure that people who don’t follow city code are brought into compliance. He also believes the city police and fire departments need more support both in terms of workers and financially and the government should be more accessible and accountable to the people.“I want to see how the money is being spent, and can we do better?” he said. “That means taking a hard look at budget and trying to deal with how can we help them. I have proven through my leadership as the director of the Athens County Historical Society and Museum and through many other things in life that I have skills and leadership abilities that are right for the job.”Jennifer Cochran also declared an interest to run for city council. Currently a licensed massage therapist with the Athens Wellness Cooperative, she holds degrees from Otterbein College near Columbus, Ohio University and Hocking College.“I have been interested in running for a long time. I think it is important that we have as many voices represented in local politics and government as possible, and I thought now is good time when I found out that Councilperson Elahu Gosney was not running for reelection."Cochran has lived in Athens for more than 15 years and is involved in many local organizations including the Athens Birth Circle, Community Food Initiatives and the Athens Time Exchange. She is also the mother of two small children and is focused on building a place where people want to live and raise families.“I want to see the city continue working on green energy initiatives, things like increasing solar panels on city buildings, as well as wellness issues like exercise and nutrition to environmental issues,” Cochran said.Cochran said Ohio is one of the most polluted states as far as emissions. She hopes to reduce Athens’ carbon footprint in a variety of ways, including making the city more bicycle-friendly by adding more bike lanes, increasing recycling, composting, backyard gardening and encouraging healthier lifestyles. As a professional in the health field, Cochran wants to help educate the city on the importance of exercising and nutrition. As a parent, she wants to make sure children in Athens are getting to schools and staying in school.A third candidate, Michael Bart (a previous version of this article incorrectly stated his name was Matt Bart), committed to running for city council. Bart is a manager at Avalanche Pizza. The OU graduate also DJs at local bars and restaurants in downtown Athens.Bart said he was a big supporter of Councilmember Gosney because he was one of the most accessible and progressive members of city council. He supported Gosney’s efforts to implement equal rights for how the city hires its workers and sustainable energy projects including the placement of solar panels on the Community Center and adding hybrid cars to the fleet of cars owned by the city. Gosney’s resignation prompted Bart to enter the race.“[Gosney] was not running, and I thought without him there – he was a go representative of me – I was worried there wasn’t going to be a representative for the younger people on the council,” Bart said.Bart looks to address problems with city infrastructure, better communication for boil orders, fracking and injection wells regulation and strengthening the local food movement – a movement very personal for him.“I would also like to continue the local food movement,” Bart said. “As an employee of Avalanche Pizza, I have worked firsthand with a lot of farmers and food producers. I would like to support that and keep that going.”Bart said he is also talking to voters and listening to their ideas. He said council is doing a good job, but a different representative voice would help the debates.“I think it would be more helpful having a voice in the debates they have, not just age groups, but different experience levels, most of the members of council are already established or retired, but the town is dominated by young people trying to establish themselves,” Bart said.Lastly, candidate Michael McSteen threw his hat in the race. McSteen works as the project manager for the Kevin Morgan Studio, an art studio for artist Kevin Morgan in Athens.