On Wednesday, Oberlin students and community members gathered at the Cat in the Cream to hear from candidates running for Oberlin School Board, City Council, and Municipal Court. Organized by OC Votes, the Community Candidates Night was intended to help voters learn more about who is on the ballot, and to encourage Oberlin students to vote in local elections on Nov. 4.
There were 11 candidates present at the OC Votes event: Richard S. Ramsey and Farah Lillian Emeka, OC ’97, for municipal court; Sarah Reimer Dawson, Melissa George, OC ’12, and Jo-Anne Steggall for school board; and Libni López, Michael McFarlin, Sandra Miller, Jessa D. New, OC ’01, Kristin L. Peterson, OC ’72, and Joe Waltzer, OC ’97, for City Council. Among these candidates, George and McFarlin are currently employed by the College.
Jess Sonney, director of student leadership & civic engagement, worked alongside College second-year Gideon Hurtado-Sher and College fourth-year Vivian Friedman, both Democracy Fellows, to plan the event.
“Anything that I can do to make the [voting] process easier and more accessible for all students is what I want to do,” Sonney said.
She hopes that by connecting students to local candidates, they will feel empowered to vote in “off-years” — municipal elections that occur in years where there are no senate, congressional, or presidential races on the national level. Sonney and OC Votes aim to involve student voters in democracy even in years where large campaigns are not taking over their social media feeds.
Hurtado-Sher emphasized a similar point.
“Local elections really matter, but they’re a lot less stressed by mainstream media,” she said, adding that local laws have a tangible impact on the rights of individuals throughout Oberlin, including those on campus.
Student attendees voiced concerns over basic rights at the event. The first of several questions submitted via the event registration form read, “At an increasingly divisive time in our regions, what is your perspective and plan to protect basic rights of privacy and safety for vulnerable populations, specifically for immigrant and trans communities?”
In addition to audience questions, candidates were asked to comment on why they are running for the position, what changes they would like to see upon entering office, and advice that they would give to students looking to stay civically engaged.
Six City Council candidates were in attendance. In this year’s election, seven total candidates are running for seven seats on the Council, and each is guaranteed a position.
McFarlin, who currently serves as vice president of the Oberlin City Council and will be starting his third term in January, spoke to the Review about his thoughts on Council participation in the event.
“We’re all committed to this kind of engagement,” he said. “We talk about it from the Council dais. We talk about it in our focus groups and events that happen throughout the City for various commissions and plans that we’ve been developing. We’re all really committed to hearing what people need to say to us.”
He, along with other Council candidates, addressed the shifting need for housing accessibility in Oberlin several times throughout the evening.
There are five School Board candidates and three available seats. Steggall, an incumbent School Board candidate, also expressed appreciation for the event.
“I find that as a group, Oberlin students like to be informed,” she said. “And I think this kind of event is a great way for them to be able to do that.”
Farah Emeka, one of two candidates for the Oberlin Municipal Court, said that this event allowed her to engage with more students.
“One of the goals that I have of my campaign is to really meet every single person that can vote for this race,” she said. “It’s a bit of a lofty goal, but it’s definitely one that can be achieved.”
The event had only one moment of political tension, in the form of a brief but heated debate between Emeka and her opponent, Ramsey. The candidates were asked about the court’s diversion program — a pathway for first offenders of minor crimes to complete community service without having the crime on their record. Emeka stated that she would bring back a diversion program that ended several years ago, to which Ramsey responded by stating that as prosecutor for eight years, Emeka could have filed the paperwork to re-establish the program long ago. Not anticipating the need for a debate format, the moderators moved on to a question for City Council on housing, but Council candidate New ceded her time to give Emeka 90 seconds for a rebuttal. Emeka explained that the court judge would need to approve a diversion program, something current judge Thomas A. Januzzi had refused during Emeka’s time as prosecutor. The judge candidates’ closing statements were tense.
“I’m going to follow the rule of law,” Emeka said. “Not only will I follow rules as simple as how to participate in a candidate night, but I will follow the rule of law as the judge on the bench.”
Ramsey responded in a similar tone.
“I’ve seen a lot of judges get elected over the years,” he said. “What tends to happen is, especially with the prosecutors that get into becoming elected, they tend to focus on their side of the table. And that concerns me sometimes.”
Despite the general emphasis on student attendance, very few students were present. College first-years Grace Waldman and Louise Baer sat in a sea of community members.
“I’m just very excited that I was able to come and educate myself, and have the opportunity to do so,” Waldman said. “I think that more people need to know the information that was talked about tonight.”
