Two candidates relatively new to politics are seeking the Republic nomination for the Columbus City Council District 3 seat in the May 7 primary.
The seat is currently held by incumbent David Bush, 34, majority stakeholder of Kenny Glass Inc. Bush was appointed by Republican precinct members in December to fill a vacant seat after former councilman Frank Jerome resigned after moving out of the district.
Precinct committeemen chose Bush over the current District 3 challenger, Russ Poling, 56, a Cummins Inc. employee and member of the Columbus City Planning Commission. The other candidate for the seat when Jerome resigned was Jon Padfield, an assistant professor at Purdue Polytechnic Columbus and former District 30 state representative. Bush took office on Jan. 1.
Although Bush is the incumbent, this race is his first attempt to attain the Republican nomination for a full four-year term on the city council. Poling unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for the seat in 2015, losing to Jerome.
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Currently, it is unclear whether the winner of the GOP primary for Columbus City Council District 3 will run unopposed in November. On April 2, Nancy Hoover, the only candidate on the Democratic primary ticket for City Council District 3, dropped out of the race for health reasons.
Bob Hyatt, chair of the Bartholomew County Democratic Party, said the party will likely hold a caucus to select a replacement.
Bush and Poling have several things in common — they both are longtime Columbus residents who said they are running for council because they want to serve their community.
Bush, a Columbus native and graduate of Columbus East High School and Purdue University, said he wants to “do what’s right for Columbus.” Bush also coaches soccer in the Columbus Parks and Recreation leagues and is an active member of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church.
“I feel called to serve,” Bush said. “If you’re going to live in a community like Columbus, the only way that we continue to improve, that we continue to get better is to have citizens who care about the community doing their part. I feel that this is part of me doing my part.”
Poling, a native of Akron, Ohio, joined the U.S. Air Force when he was 17 years old and spent 20 years on active duty. Though he has lived in several places, including South Korea, Kentucky, California, Alaska, Maryland and Arkansas, he said he considers Columbus to be his home.
“I lived here almost 19 years,” Poling said. “I’ve lived here longer than I’ve lived in any other place in my life, including the city I grew up in.”
Poling retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2000, the same year he received a computer science degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and took a job at Cummins Inc.
Poling serves on the Columbus City Planning Commission and as the city’s liaison with the Bartholomew County Planning Commission. He also is a volunteer mentor for the Bartholomew County Veterans Treatment Court.
“I really want to get involved (in city government),” Poling said. “A really great way to be involved in city government is to be on the city council. That allows you to serve the community and also have a strong say in what goes on as far as how our tax dollars are spent and how we prioritize what the city gets involves with. I just really want to serve my community.”
The issues
There are several major projects underway in Columbus in various stages of development.
The future of FairOaks Mall and the Donner Center are still being planned. On Dec. 14, the city finalized the purchase of the 35.36-acre mall property at 25th Street and Central Avenue for $5.9 million. The city put up approximately $4 million, or 75 percent of the property’s appraised value.
Additionally, a $25 million hotel and conference center is in its beginning stages, while the State Street corridor projects are already bearing some fruit, according to city officials.
Bush emphasized that he has neither political aspirations nor a specific political agenda. However, he said the two biggest items he supports are the city’s efforts to stem drug addiction and supporting the Columbus Parks Department.
“The news, you see it almost every day, something related to heroin or opioids,” Bush said. “The more we can do to eliminate that, the better off we’ll be… I think it’s seen all over our community, certainly in some areas more than others. Whether we each see it (in our districts) or not, the problem is there and we have to continue fighting it for it to get better and go away.”
The other main area of focus for Bush is the city’s parks department, which he said helps Columbus residents stay physically active.
“Anything I can do to help our parks department be better — better programming, better systems, better trails, better parks — if I can help in that, I certainly will,” Bush said. “… The larger network of People Trails we can have, the more active of a community we can have, and the more that people can be biking, walking and healthy. I think that’s a great thing for our community to have.”
In District 3, Bush said he would like to make sure the city continues to maintain Rocky Ford Par 3 Golf Course.
“One thing that will affect our district is the golf course,” Bush said. “… Currently, the (city-run) golf courses are barely getting by from a profit-loss standpoint. A lot of my constituents are neighbors of (Par 3). I think that it’s going to be in our best interest to maintain that golf course in some fashion or another. Par 3 is a very affordable course. It’s an entry-level golf course. I think it’s important that it remains an asset of our community.”
Poling said his priorities are improving the city’s infrastructure, maintaining fiscal responsibility and ensuring that the Columbus Police Department and Columbus Fire Department have the resources, equipment and staff they need.
“The big thing that I want to do is to improve infrastructure,” Poling said. “There are some parts of the city, especially outside of downtown, where the roads need some attention … The main focuses are storm sewers, safe sidewalks and keeping the roads maintained.”
In District 3, Poling said he would “look into” putting in sidewalks so children who go to Richards Elementary School “don’t have to walk in the street.”
“Infrastructure is important because in order to have a good quality of life for the residents of that district, we have to have sound roads and storm sewers that work,” Poling said. “I’m also concerned that there seems to be a lack of sidewalks… I know we can’t just go in and start putting in sidewalks, but I think that we really make sure that we’ve done everything we can to have sidewalks where we can put them.”
Downtown conference center
Both candidates said they support the idea of putting in a downtown conference center, but would need to read the fine print before they sign off on any specific proposal.
Bush said having a conference center downtown would be “a jewel” for the city, which he said has lacked space for larger events of 500 to 600 people since the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center on the city’s west side closed and was demolished.
“Until we know the specifics of the project, I can’t say ‘yes, I support that project,’ “ Bush said. “But, in general, I think having a hotel and conference center downtown is a very good thing. The actual implementation of it, I’d have to see all the details.”
Poling said he also is in favor of the idea of having a conference center downtown. He said he would be willing to consider offering a private developer tax abatements.
“If we have the space and we have a private developer that’s willing to build something like that, I’m definitely in support of it,” Poling said. “The city can help with zoning rules and also with tax abatements. (A developer) may ask for some tax abatements, and I’d be willing to look at those and judge them on their merit.”
FairOaks Mall
Both candidates said they felt that Mayor Jim Lienhoop’s administration is going in the right direction with a proposed plan to transform FairOaks Mall into a year-long recreation and sports tourism project.
“Anything that supports physical fitness or health, I think is a good thing,” Poling said. “I would say they have some good ideas, but they’re also going to take in public input, and that’s really important that we let the public say, ‘Here is what I’d like to see here.’ One thing I want to make sure happens is whatever we program in there, we have to keep it to where people will be able to utilize it. If we can make it free, that’s great, and that’s what we need to strive for.
Bush said turning FairOaks Mall into a sports and recreation facility and renovating the Donner Center is a “no-brainer.” He said he can foresee health and wellness classes, as well as yoga classes, being offered at the new facility.
“I think what we’ve done there is smart because the Donner Center is aging and aging rapidly,” Bush said. “It’s one of the oldest facilities in our community. It’s getting toward the end of its useful life… The question is do you sink another couple million dollars to renovate the Donner Center, or do you spend money and buy a new facility? At the end of the day, the money they would have spent to renovate Donner versus the money they spent to purchase the mall, and you think of the square footage of Donner versus the square footage of the mall, it’s a no-brainer.”
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Name: Russ Poling
Age: 56
Current occupation: Quality manager at Cummins Inc.
Education: Bachelor of science in computer science from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Previous elected offices held: None
Community organization memberships and service: Vice president of the Columbus City Planning Commission, city liaison to the Bartholomew County Planning Commission, volunteer mentor with the Bartholomew County Veterans Treatment Court. Previously served on the Columbus Redevelopment Commission
Family: wife Judy, two children, one grandchild
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Name: David Bush
Age: 34
Current occupation: Primary shareholder of Kenny Glass Inc.
Education: Bachelor of science in construction engineering and management from Purdue University
Previous elected offices held: Columbus City Councilman for District 3
Community organization memberships and service: Serves on the operations board at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, soccer coach in the Columbus Parks and Recreation leagues and serves on the Barcon Vocational Builders board, which works with Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.’s C4 program to assist students in building a house
Family: wife Katie, three children
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