Compromise…

From the very beginning, this fight was never about politics for us. It was about people… the people of Grove City who deserve a voice in what gets built in their community, next to their homes, near their kids’ schools, on the land they drive past every day. Especially if that something is going to take their tax money, increase their utilities, poison their environment, or … God forbid… hurt their children.

The chief challenge we’ve heard from all corners… critics, skeptics, and even our supporters… has been understanding exactly what this amendment captures and what it doesn’t. That’s been the number one point of confusion since day one. We know that legal language is dense. People want plain answers about what’s covered before they’re asked to trust it.

Second to that has been concern about existing businesses being grandfathered in, or swept up in something that was never meant for them. We understand that too. Nobody set out to punish a business that’s been part of this community for years. That was never the intent, and if the language leaves room for doubt, that doubt needs to go.

So let’s talk about what’s actually happened.

Literally everyone (including the city) has had access to the complete CCA document since 6/12… two whole months. Two months where any council member, any staffer, any city attorney could have picked up the phone, sent an email, asked a single clarifying question. Guess how many times someone from council or the city actually reached out… One.

A couple of residents, on their own, made efforts to broker something workable between us and the city. Then, independently and without knowledge of what those residents were already attempting, Councilman Omar reached out and asked to collaborate on a compromise package that made this more clear, as well as addressing some other city concerns, and Protect Grove City was immediately on board. In that meeting, Mr. Smith also brought us his feedback directly. That’s the sum total of goodwill and outreach across two months… a couple of neighbors, then a councilman with the city attorney, trying to do what the rest of the city wouldn’t.

If the objections being raised in public were the real objections, you’d expect more than one or two people reaching out in two months to try and fix them. Of course there were other paths available too… the city could have passed an ordinance, or simply floated some ideas publicly for discussion. None of that happened. No two way discussion. No solutions presented. No conversation had at all. When people actually want a solution, they usually show up to help build one. When people want an excuse, they run to social media to complain about problems they never tried to solve.

Make no mistake… thanks to all of you, we’ve already earned our spot on the November ballot. We know we can win with what we have right now. But we’d rather not have to. We’d rather find common ground that brings more of this city together instead of dividing it further, because a Grove City that votes overwhelmingly for its own protection is stronger than a Grove City that barely gets there.

That’s why we want something all of our city can get behind… not just a win, but something that works, that’s clear, and that gives residents the final say on the kind of development that reshapes their neighborhoods for decades.

So we listened, and we’re acting on it.

We’re actively working on something that would remove the argument over what is and isn’t captured by the amendment… limiting it to functions that are clearly industrial. No ambiguity, no guessing, no room for either side to misrepresent it later.

We’ve also just submitted a draft that is forward-looking only. That change would completely exempt our local glove manufacturer and every other existing business in this city from any confusion about grandfathering, while still giving the people a vote on any new heavy industrial development coming into Grove City. Existing businesses keep operating exactly as they always have. What changes is that the next time someone wants to bring something heavy industrial into this city, the people who live here get a say instead of finding out after the fact.

Here’s how compromise actually works in this case. If the city votes to put a version of this on the ballot that we agree addresses the core concerns, once its placement on the ballot is confirmed we will withdraw the CCA. This isn’t a bluff, and it isn’t a trick. We are not interested in duplicate measures or election night confusion. We want one clear question in front of voters… and we are willing to step back the moment the city steps up.

So the only question that matters now is…

As we address these objections will they finally agree to give the people a voice? Or will they find new objections, new technicalities, new reasons why the people of this city still can’t be trusted with a vote on their own future?

This is what we keep seeing on the news and in the papers every day! In congress and state houses and city halls everywhere…Instead of politicians working with the people to find a way forward, too many spend their energy working behind the scenes to tear down the will of the people. Quiet meetings instead of public conversation. Opposition research instead of open dialogue. Power protected instead of power shared. Grove City deserves better than that, and we know the people sitting on that council know it too.

Because if the concerns get addressed and the goalposts just move again, that tells you everything you need to know. It was never about grandfathering. It was never about definitions or legal language or unintended consequences. It was about who gets to make the decisions in this city… a handful of people at the top, or the thousands of residents this was supposed to represent all along.

We’re making the good faith effort, and we’ll keep making it. Now we’ll see who else is willing to meet us there… or who was only ever interested in keeping that power for themselves.

#PeopleOverPolitics