All three Democratic candidates appear at Student Senate Democratic town hall

Democratic candidates Ben Ziff, Micah McCarey and Sarah Grace at Student Senate’s town hall. Photo by Audri Wilde.

The Democratic candidates for Athens City Council’s at-large seats discussed their views on some of the top issues in the city at Ohio University Student Senate’s Democratic town hall Tuesday night. 

The three Democratic candidates, Sarah Grace, Micah McCarey and Ben Ziff, all running together on a unified campaign, answered questions from Student Senate, local and student media, Ohio U students and Independent candidate Damon Krane, who was in attendance.  

The candidates talked about housing in Athens, student voting, diversity and inclusion, the local economy and the overlapping ramifications of COVID-19 within all of these issues at the event. They received the same questions that Independent candidates Krane and Iris Virjee were presented with at the Student Senate’s last candidate forum, where the Democratic candidates failed to make an appearance.

Grace has been a member of the Council since 2017, and both Ziff and McCarey were appointed to council in lieu of vacancies left by previous members Beth Clodfelter and Peter Kotses, who had stepped down. 

The candidates stated that their decision to run together made sense since the three are already working together and have come to the conclusion they share similar goals. 

Pressing issues:

McCarey stated that “diversity and inclusion” was the most pressing matter that Athens currently faces, especially at the heels of George Floyd’s death and the rise to prominence of the Black Lives Matter movement in response.

McCarey hopes to look at how issues of diversity and inclusion impact people’s needs as well as the attention given to those needs.

Grace identified the ongoing consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic as the most pressing issue. 

“I think, for all of us as members of Council, to stay really current on the latest advice and guidance of our public health officials and continue to work for policies that protect everyone,” Grace said. “On the heels of that, a person must be looking at helping our local workers and businesses recover from the economic impact.”

Ziff said he believes the most pressing matter is the potential of a $1.5 million tax refund that the city of Athens may have to pay to those who did not have to pay their income tax to the city, since they were working at home out of the city during the height of the pandemic.

Ziff said, from a financial standpoint, finding that $1.5 million within the budget is a fairly large issue that the city government is going to face.

Athens housing market:

McCarey emphasized that the issue requires looking through an “intersectional lens” by “thinking about what makes properties affordable and accessible to as many people who are marginalized as possible.” McCarey said he wants to connect people with resources that can help them find housing that fulfills their needs by not only looking at prices but also compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Grace mentioned that housing costs in Athens are driven by supply. She has been able to work with the city planner and the Affordable Housing Commission to increase the supply of accessible and affordable housing to drive down costs, as well as energy-efficient and solar-friendly housing.

Additionally, Grace said the city is working on annexing land that was not previously in the city to acquire more space for affordable housing. Most recently, the city annexed land off of West Union Street and State Route 682, where apartments are currently being built. Grace said the city is also looking at land within city limits that is already owned by the city and trying to find opportunities to build small, more affordable homes there as well.

Ziff said he wanted to try and bolster the city’s code office, which currently only has four employees that are in charge of enforcing housing codes for the entirety of Athens to prevent places that offer substandard qualities of living from continuing to stand.

The candidates were also asked if they support rent control by several members of the audience, one of which included Independent candidate Damon Krane. Both Ziff and McCarey said they needed to learn more on the subject. Grace said she did not.

“I've talked with a lot of different professionals in housing, who live and work in places all over the U.S., and because of the structure of our local economy, and some of the negative impacts of rent control policies, no, I don't believe it would actually be beneficial for Athens,” said Grace.

Student engagement:

Grace identified the City Council’s need for more regular student engagement to increase student voter turnout in Athens. She said during her first term on Council, Student Senate and Athens City Council would have regular meetings and there were often a number of students that attended City Council meetings. 

Grace said she wanted to rebuild those relationships, and also work with university leaders to increase students’ awareness of opportunities to get involved in the community through local government and politics or community-based activities and events. She also noted that she hoped to start recruiting more students for the Council’s boards and commissions.

Diversity and the Make Respect Visible Campaign:

Ziff said he was excited that Athens City Council is currently looking at adding a position that would deal with diversity and inclusion and work with the ADA.

“Having a position like that I think would be fabulously beneficial – having someone whose whole job is to maintain that kind of diverse, equitable environment for people, because that’s been able to often get overlooked by a lot of governmental stuff,” Ziff said.

McCarey added he thought the Council must do more than simply create a new position, and instead, it should be everyone’s work. He mentioned there are points about diversity and inclusion in the Council’s mission that he hoped to regularly remind council members of.

Grace said the Council is working on updating portions of their code with gender-neutral language.

Local and small businesses:

Grace explained that she is hopeful for the future of small businesses in Athens.

“I'm hoping that in future years we'll see more businesses apply for having parklets because I love the outdoor seating, and I think it brings a sort of celebration air to this town when you have umbrellas, and people just enjoying the lovely weather and bricks,” Grace said.

She stated that she also hopes to get more businesses to participate in the Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area (DORA).

Ziff said he encourages people to frequent the numerous small businesses in Athens and to tell their friends about them.

Poverty and food access:

Ziff explained that instead of simply telling people there are programs for those facing food insecurity, Athens City Council needs to work on broadcasting which programs are available, such as Community Food Initiatives and the Veggie Van.

Grace said while the city government is not the correct entity to start a food distribution program, she is interested in looking at partnerships with agencies and organizations that are already involved in Athens.

Policing:

Independent candidate Damon Krane, who was in attendance, asked the Democratic candidates whether or not they were in favor of conducting an “open transparent, publicly accessible investigation of the Athens Police Department to determine whether or not racial disparities exist in an APD's use of force, arrests and traffic stops.”

All three candidates answered yes, that they would be willing to do so.

“I come from an appreciative inquiry philosophy that says we should spend about 20% of our time focusing on the causes, and that critical lens of underlying causes and 80% of our time identifying solutions and ways to forge a vision for the future we need to co-construct together,” McCarey said.

McCarey said he did not want to get stuck on identifying problems and wants to spend more time focusing on the needs of the community and how to move forward.

Grace clarified that such an investigation would need to be conducted by an entirely independent entity and that the city was also looking at employee evaluation processes for all city employees.