TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2
Upper Arlington 2021 Candidates
Welcome UA voters! Early voting starts October 5, and we want residents to be informed and equipped with information to make their decisions. Below is a summary of each candidate for UA City Council and Board of Education, submitted by the candidates, and links to their campaign pages.
The deadline to register or update your voter registration for the November 2 general election is October 4, 2021.
All mail-in ballots must be postmarked by November 1, 2021.
City Council Candidates
Kathy Adams
Why are you running for office?
I am running because I am passionate about making a difference and helping others, and I have the skillset for meaningful impact on all the economic development that is happening right now in Upper Arlington. In addition, I want to work to support and champion my parents and the senior population in Upper Arlington.
If elected, what is your top priority?
I have spent the last 15 years in public service with the State of Ohio, working for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, helping clients make the best use of our state tax dollars. I want to be a fiscal watchdog for the community center and economic development projects in Upper Arlington. I will ensure that residents receive a great deal of communication about these important projects, and that the information is accessible and easily digestible. I will advocate to make sure that residents feel included in an open, transparent process, and that the city is maximizing opportunities.
Ukeme Awakessien Jeter
Why are you running for office?
I am running for Upper Arlington City Council to bring fresh perspectives and innovative thinking to our local leadership. My varied lived and career experiences make me uniquely qualified to harness the power of broad civic engagement, utilize design thinking to birth novel ideas and leverage technology to inform our decision making and provide innovative services to our residents.
If elected, what is your top priority?
With Central Ohio being the fastest growing area in the state, to remain a community of choice, Upper Arlington needs a renewed vision to attract and retain that growth. My top priority if elected is to collaboratively work with our community leaders, residents and stakeholders to build a vision that bridges our legacy with our future. A vision focused on smart, sustainable growth and connected infrastructure that builds vibrancy, attracts new residents and retains business growth while ensuring quality of life.
Brian Close
Why are you running for office?
As a father of three young kids, a coach of many sports teams, and a partner in a large law firm, I get asked this question all the time. When I ran 4 years ago, I followed a calling to help bring this community back together after a recent recall election when “everyday” residents were starting to distrust our city government. Over the last four years, I have worked hard with the rest of city council to build back that trust by acting civilly with each other and our residents, creating transparent processes that prioritized resident feedback and executing on my campaign promises focused on infrastructure improvements, reasonable commercial development and sensible residential guidelines. All of this culminated in the voter approved (80/20) Community Center.
But we still have unfinished business. Over the next 5-6 months we will be conducting community outreach to listen to our residents to ensure the Community Center aligns with our residents’ desires and values. We need to stay focused on repairing, replacing and improving our aging infrastructure, roads and parks and use the excessive revenue we are starting to see from an increased business base to expand our CIP programs and offer more city services without raising taxes. My re-election will ensure this proven method of thoughtful, reasonable and transparent governance continues in order to keep Upper Arlington the preeminent community in Central Ohio.
If elected, what is your top priority?
Conducting an extensive, open and transparent resident feedback process to ensure the Community Center meets and exceeds the expectations of our residents. I am very proud to have been part of the city leadership that helped bring the Community Center together, but we must now double down on the cornerstones that led to the voter approval of the Community Center: fostering dialogue and collaboration. We must provide significant outreach to our residents and get them involved in the design and programming process and we as a council need to provide careful oversight of the Community Center’s finances and produce a sound budget for funding the facility’s ongoing operations, programming and maintenance. It is my top priority to ensure the Community Center reflects the values and needs of our community now and for generations to come.
Jim Lynch
Why are you running for office?
It has been my privilege to serve Upper Arlington as a member of City Council since 2018 and build upon my active volunteerism in our community. When I asked for voters’ support four years ago, I focused my priorities on four primary goals: improving transparency and civility, keeping the city on a solid financial footing, promoting responsible growth and ensuring better infrastructure and services. Each of these goals is based on my commitment to improving the way city government speaks to—and most important, listens to — its residents. I am pleased with the progress we’ve made toward achieving these goals over the past four years, and I look forward to building upon that progress through a second term.
If elected, what is your top priority?
The overwhelming passage of the ballot issue to construct a community center was driven by a transparent, citizen-led effort that requires extensive communications with the public. As a member of council, I will work to ensure that our city government continues to effectively engage the community over the next several years as we design, construct and operate this facility. Just as important, with the construction and operation of our new community center we will need to keep a sharp eye on the city’s budget and spending priorities to maintain our solid financial footing.
Stacy McIntire
Why are you running for office?
I am committed to this community and feel compelled to step-up because we need strong leadership with a vision for our future. My volunteer efforts (General Chair of the UACA 4th of July Committee 2020 and 2021, Barrington Elementary PTO Co-President, and Meals on Wheels volunteer) have allowed me to build professional relationships with residents, city employees, organizations, and community leaders. With these relationships and my first hand exposure to this community’s strengths and opportunities, I can hit the ground running as a member of City Council. I bring nearly 20 years of relevant, professional experience focusing on understanding the needs and perspectives of this community in order to ask the right questions, develop a sound plan, and make the best decisions for our community to thrive.
If elected, what is your top priority?
Two key issues I am hearing the most about as I connect with the community are the community center and responsible development. My work on City Council will be driven by connecting with residents to understand these key issues and develop plans to drive growth benefiting the residents of UA.
More immediately, we must focus on designing the community center to meet our residents’ needs by engaging the community through the design and build process as well as staying true to the fiscal expectations set forth by the Community Center Feasibility Task Force.
As UA and Central Ohio continue to grow, we need to prioritize development that builds on our strong neighborhood connections, great parks, and established traditions to ensure UA is a top choice in Central Ohio. The growth we are experiencing requires us to revisit our Master Plan. I will work to gather input from our citizens to develop a thoughtful and resident-driven plan which clearly guides priorities and decisions around development, growth and infrastructure along with financial stability. Revisiting our Master Plan will ensure Upper Arlington residents benefit from the expected growth. Both of these key issues require communication throughout the process. I will make sure that we are meeting residents where they are to gather input, as well as supporting the existing channels for communication.
Michele Montavon Hoyle
Why are you running for office?
I am running to finish the great work began in my first term. In the past 4 years I have worked to ensure our financial stability, maintaining our triple A (AAA) bond rating, and to provide residents with the high-quality services and amenities we value. In those four years, we weathered a once-in-a-century pandemic, established the city’s first Community Relations Committee to ensure all feel welcomed and valued in our community, and fostered a successful citizen-driven effort that resulted in almost 80% voter approval of a community center in the center of our city, a facility that has been thirty years in the making. My nearly thirty-five years’ experience working with all aspects of city finances uniquely qualify me among all the candidates to provide the leadership needed to guide our city’s operating budget and growing capital improvements program.
If elected, what is your top priority?
If re-elected, I will continue to use my years as a public finance professional to provide guidance in budget and financial decisions, notably as we embark on the design, construction and operation of the single largest project in UA’s history, our community center.
Andrej Rotter
Why are you running for office?
My name is Andrej Rotter, and I am running for Upper Arlington City Council. I retired from the Wexner Medical Center two years ago and would like to use my experience as a research scientist and educator to serve the residents of our community.
If elected, what is your top priority?
I believe that working towards environmental sustainability in the face of a changing climate is the most important task facing UA today. Upper Arlington is privileged to have an educated population with diverse skills and is in a unique position to create a sustainable community as our environment changes. This effort will incorporate many areas of city government and will require the involvement of all our residents. It would be my top priority if elected to UA City Council.
School Board Candidates
Liz Easton
Why are you running for office?
I am running for school board because I believe that an excellent education is so important for the future of our students. With a degree in education, being a former teacher, and having had 3 kids graduate from UA schools, I believe I am qualified to be on the school board.
If elected, what is your top priority?
If I am elected, my first priority will be to talk to as many teachers, students, and administrators as possible. I need to get as much information as I can to discover where teachers and students need support and how best to help our schools excel.
Scott McKenzie
Why are you running for office?
After a difficult year, things are looking up for the UA schools: our kids are back full time, and we are opening incredible new buildings on budget and on schedule. I am running for re-election to keep the schools on this upward track and to continue our work on the Board to expand opportunities for all UA kids.
I believe the UA schools must work for all kids. We must prioritize academic excellence. We must have top notch programs and facilities for all student interests, not only athletics but also STEM, music, drama, and visual arts. We must provide more opportunities for student development, such as all-day kindergarten and additional summer programming to help kids after the pandemic. We must prioritize fitness and nutrition (as a long-time runner, I want all our kids to develop life-long exercise habits). And we must manage our schools responsibly and within our means. During my time on the Board, we have saved $4.6 million through cost-saving measures and have used those savings to postpone levies in 2020 and 2021. We must continue to push for these types of cost-savings and efficiencies.
If elected, what is your top priority?
We are thrilled that our new high school and new and renovated elementary schools are opening on schedule and on budget. These buildings represent Phase 1 of the district’s Facilities Master Plan. The most important new item for the school board’s agenda in the coming year is to begin to address Phase 2 of the Facilities Master Plan, which primarily involves work at Jones, Hastings, and Burbank. We look forward to gathering community input and working with district staff to begin the Phase 2 planning process.
Carol Mohr
Why are you running for office?
Our children Maggie and Nick were very well prepared for college and careers, and I wanted to make sure that excellent education continued for students coming up. Being able to improve education such as fostering more STEM activities (FIRST Robotics, FLL, Hackathons) and the arts programs (Orchestra, Band, Music, fine arts) is crucial to launching our students into lives of meaning. Finding a passion that “turns on the light bulb” for a student can develop the next generation of UA’s most famous entrepreneurs, Jeni Britton Bauer and Cameron Mitchell.
If elected, what is your top priority?
My top priority is raising academic achievement through removing barriers by following the science of reading and building on a growth model of learning.
Nidhi Satiani
Why are you running for office?
I see a gap in our current Board of Education, and I know I can help fill that gap. While our current leaders are good people with good intentions, they’ve struggled with ensuring our plans and visions work their way into the students’ everyday experiences. With over 20 years of training and work in healthcare and public health, I have honed my ability to understand and apply evidence-based solutions to meet the needs of individual patients and communities. I am running so I can use these skills to serve each and every student and reestablish Upper Arlington as the district of choice.
If elected, what is your top priority?
The very first thing I want to see is expanded access to the school board for the community at large. A substantial part of our current community divisiveness is rooted in people feeling like they haven’t been heard throughout the last few years. A streamlined, formal process for communication that includes feedback and dialogue would be first on my agenda. This is critical for a return to respect and civility in our community and I expect our local leaders to lead this effort.
Lou Sauter
Why are you running for office?
Kids First. I chose that as our campaign motto because it is the singular reason why I am running for Upper Arlington School Board, and it perfectly expresses how I will make decisions when I am elected to the Board. I believe we need a School Board that prioritizes our kids and will listen to parents and be a strong advocate for our kids with the school administration.
If elected, what is your top priority?
We must restore our schools’ focus on academic excellence. For several generations Upper Arlington Schools have been ranked near the top of districts in Central Ohio and the state. This has prepared our graduates for success at the next level and helped propel property values by making our real estate highly desirable. Recent data shows our schools decreasing test scores and rankings. Fixing this needs to be the number one priority for the Board and administrators.