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Health & Fitness

Please consider candidates' track records on Oakwood before you vote

Who I am going to vote for on Tuesday.

Political scientists and pundits have a mantra, "All politics is local." Although Tip O'Neill coined the phrase years ago, it still rings true. While many people only follow state and federal races, the people who run your local government have most direct impact on the quality of your life. Experts say that following local races and issues is a good investment of your time.

So, for what it is worth, here are my recommendations on who to vote for on Tuesday, based on their stand on Oakwood and sustainability.

The incumbents, Dennis Wilcox and Phyllis Evans did nothing to help preserve Oakwood. Literally nothing. And by doing so, they helped to deliver the message to Metroparks that they were not wanted here. (Even though we all pay $55 per $100,000 valuation of our property and have no Metropark nearby.)

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Mr. Wilcox and Ms. Evans both permitted the closing of Denison Pool, and refused to have a public hearing about this even though Denison was a place for teens to work and socialize in the summer, and serves the less affluent and many minority members of our community. Mr. Wilcox is on the committee responsible for parks.

As people, Mr. Wilcox and Ms. Evans are, of course, nice and are concerned citizens. But as fiery and independent as they may have once been, as current council members they are rubber stamps. Council almost always votes unanimously. Understandably, after so many years on council Mr. Wilcox and Ms. Evans are  unable to come up with new ideas and are no longer receptive to them. This is not a criticism of them as individuals, but the inevitable result of their being in a bureaucracy for so many years; this would happen to anyone in their positions.

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We should thank them for their service to our community, but not return them to office. Should they want to continue to use their knowledge and expertise to help our community, there are many ways for them to do so and they are still much needed and wanted in this capacity.

Mr. Stein is running unopposed. He has done nothing to try to preserve Oakwood, but he will serve out the remainder of Mr. Tumeo's uncompleted term no matter if you vote for him or not.

Mr. Sylla has done nothing to help to preserve Oakwood. His primary issue is crime.

Ms. Dunbar has done much to help our city by creating the Bicycle Coalition and by helping to get historic designation for her neighborhood. However, when asked directly and repeatedly about Oakwood, she made it clear that she would not commit to preserve it as greenspace. This was surprising to me as I thought that bike riders would be natural allies to environmental and sustainable causes. But, another lesson learned; Ms. Dunbar's interest in bike riding is apparently not linked to environmental issues, but limited to the creation of bike lanes and bike facilities. I do not support Ms.Dunbar for city council, although we have much to thank her for and I hope she will continue to make useful contributions to our community.

Jeff Coryell has made the clearest and most supportive statements about Oakwood. For this and other reasons, he has my vote.

Mike Gaynier has tap danced around a direct answer when I have asked him about Oakwood. Although sympathetic to preserving greenspace, he has not committed to preserving Oakwood. But, he gets my vote because he has much to offer as a city council person and has done a great deal to help all us through his work at the Home Repair Resource Center.

To get the most power out of your vote, please do as I am going to do, and ONLY VOTE for Mr. Gaynier and Mr. Coryell. In our system, where everyone serves at large, this is the best way to get them into office.

But, don't just listen to me. Please contact all of the candidates above and ask them direct questions about your areas of concern. There is no subsitute for a conversation with them. Please listen to see if they really answer your questions. Everything is possible in the abstract;ask them questions about the realities we are all facing. Evaluate if they are already part of the status quo.

And, above all, go vote!

Thank you.

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