Columbia City Council candidates went to a potluck to discuss racial issues with Race Matters, Friends

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City council candidates discuss social inequities at Wednesday potluck
SOO RIN KIM AND TOMÁS ORIHUELA Mar 15, 2017
COLUMBIA — City Council candidates discussed social inequities and the city's deal with Aurora Organic Dairy at a potluck hosted by
Race Matters, Friends on Wednesday at Bethel Baptist Church.
Close to 50 people gathered in a meeting where the vast majority of the questions were related to racial disparities in economic mobility
and unemployment in Columbia.
Boone County is only better than 17 percent of counties in the United States in terms of economic mobility, according to a report in The
New York Times.
"That's a disgraceful statistic," said Art Jago, a candidate for the Fifth Ward council seat. Fifth Ward candidate Matt Pitzer did not attend.
Pat Kelley, a First Ward council seat candidate, said the city should remove barriers for people trying to attain middle-class status.
"We'll always have the poor. We'll always have the rich, but whether we'll have a middle class is a matter of public policy," Kelley said.
Andrew Hutchinson, another First Ward candidate, said the city should consider how to solve social inequity with all of its policy
decisions.
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Clyde Ru埫�n, the First Ward incumbent, said when negotiating with the Aurora Organic Dairy, the council made sure that the hiring
process would re埞�ect the community members. At least 10 percent of the dairy company's workforce in Columbia must be African-
American and an additional 10 percent must be women.
Jago said the council and the dairy company reached an agreement that bene埝�ts everyone in providing jobs. He de埝�ned the deal as a big
step for the city that could help with the problem of inequality and inequity.
Hutchinson questioned whether the promised new jobs from the new business were worth all the incentives the city is giving the
company.
Columbia resident Carol Brown said there are a lot of hidden costs of the Aurora deal such as water use, sewage and tra埫�c problems
that are not talked about.
"Show us the whole picture and let us decide what we want," Brown said.
Residents also discussed how Ru埫�n had performed as the First Ward city councilman.
Columbia resident Laura Mitchell, who said she voted for Ru埫�n, said she would like to see him in particular participate more in council
discussions.
"The center of the city is decaying. The sewer system is falling apart,” she said. “We need somebody that can push back. Nobody else is
going to stand up for the First Ward."
Ru埫�n replied that he’s more a listener than he is a speaker.
"A lot happens behind the scenes," he said. "It has taken me all of this time to understand how the city works, who the people are, how to
get things done."
Supervising editor is Sky Chadde.
MORE INFORMATION
Candidates for local elections talk economic development, policing and public schools