“I definitely plan to run for office again.”
That is what Eddie Pauline, former two-term Undergraduate Student Government president, said more than two years ago in a Lantern article.
Today, Pauline is keeping true to his word as he runs for Columbus City Council.
The primary election, which will eliminate two of the eight council candidates, will advance the remaining six to an election this fall. In the end, four new seats will be filled.
“I’m crossing my fingers for tomorrow,” he said.
Q: What have you been doing since graduating from Ohio State in 2003?
A: I work here in Columbus for Bernie Kosar, former Cleveland Browns quarterback. I help manage his sports publishing company – scout.com. We have a network of team-specific Web sites and magazines across the country and I specifically focus on building a national sales team. It’s interesting but it has nothing to do with my geology or political science degree.
I’ve joined a couple community organizations. I’m president of the United Nations Association. Its main project is organizing the annual Columbus International Festival. I’m on the board of Neighborhood House, a development organization for the east side of town. We’re trying to get some affordable housing built in that area and establish more of an economic base.
Q: Why did you decide to run for Columbus City Council?
A: I saw the impact of decent government through my experience at Ohio State and thought I could do that at a grander level. I think we accomplished a lot of positive things, especially for the University District with some of the clean-ups and the community ambassador program. I had a neat opportunity to work with the city with the off-campus disturbances. With my good understanding of city government, my ability to take on a leadership role and the other activities I’ve been involved with, I thought it was a good fit.
Q: What is at the top of your priority list if you are elected?
A: I’ve been to a lot of neighborhood associations and groups all over the city and have seen a lack of priorities that the neighborhoods have with the city. We need to really focus on making our neighborhoods a little bit stronger to accomplish some of the goals that we want as far as making Columbus a great city. We’re growing from the outside in right now. There’s a lot of development on the outskirts of the city around 270 and beyond. I think we almost have a rotten core.
The schools systems are in shambles, there is high crime in the neighborhoods, poverty is strickening some neighborhoods and there are health issues. In the long term these will be detrimental in making Columbus great.
I really like the priority that the downtown footprint has gotten. I think that’s crucial to have a fun downtown, lots of activities, people living there – that’s great – but I think you have to be careful when you surround that with a weak core. I’d like to focus on improving those areas, getting more businesses interested in doing business in the core of the city. There’s a lot of urban plateaus all over the city, a lot of empty parking lots, abandoned buildings that are primed for redevelopment and the city should do more to make those places attractive. There’s no need to keep annexing land outside of the city limit to increase our tax base. I think they have a lot of opportunities with the foundation that we already have.
I’d like to gear the council to lead the effort on creating partnerships with local organizations – Ohio State, the arts community and Batelle. We have some great businesses here that are doing a lot of their own projects and improvements. I think the city can take a more active role in coordinating that.
Q: You are the youngest of the group. What separates you, other than your age, from the other candidates and how do you stand up against the competition?
A: I don’t really think the age is too much of deal. I’ve been able to accomplish quite a bit at 25 so I don’t think that I’ll stop. Kevin Boyce was appointed to council when he was I think 28 so I’m not too far off.
I’ve always been more of an action-oriented person and I think that the current council lacks actually doing something. I’ve read report after report and commission after commission of what the problems are in Columbus. They seem to know what all the problems are but they’re not doing anything to fix it. If you look at the agenda it’s been a smoking ban, a leash law, recycling programs. When are we going to deal with the big issues that are plaguing the city? Those are the kind of things that I’m interested in creating legislation for and I think that separates me quite a bit from the other candidates because I don’t see them doing anything.
I think I bring one of the only business minds to the council. Everyone else who’s running is either a career politician or a nonprofit person. I think that makes me a little bit more unique that I’ve been involved in actual, real workings of a small business which I think is attractive in generating some unique ideas.
Q: How do you think your USG experience helped prepare you for the things you’ve been doing after graduation and for city council?
A: It was the best thing I did at Ohio State.
You’re getting paid to do a good job. You’re getting paid to represent and listen to 50,000 people. Managing and listening to students and trying to help them for their agenda, listening to administrators, working with faculty members, that prepares you for the real world. I’ve noticed that everyone has an opinion, everyone is right and to learn how to manage all that is important. Getting experience with so many different personalities is great for the real world. I can match the personalities of people I work with now and people that I’ve worked with either in student government or other places. There’s always some sort of parallel that I can make. I got a real nice preview I think of the real world by being involved with USG at that level. It was good training ground, especially for public office.
