Candidate Lourdes Barroso de Padilla

Tim Fulton 00:08Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Confluence Cast, presented by Columbus Underground. We are a weekly, Columbus-centric podcast focusing on the civics, lifestyle, entertainment, and people of our city. I'm your host, Tim Fulton. This week, in anticipation of this fall's election, the Confluence Cast is endeavoring to introduce Columbus voters to the 12 council and two mayoral candidates in their own words. When Lourdes Barroso de Padilla first won her seat on Columbus City Council in 2021, she was the first Latina to serve in the role — a role that she plans to continue as she runs unopposed for reelection to Council District 8 this November. In today's interview, she talks about her background and goes a lot deeper into the conversations around growth, transportation, and opportunity. You can get more information on what we discussed today in the show notes for this episode at theconfluencecast.com. Enjoy the interview. Sitting down here with Columbus City Councilwoman Lourdes Barroso de Padilla today. You are running for District 8 of council. First of all, how are you?

Lourdes Barroso de Padilla 01:19I'm great. How are you?

Tim Fulton 01:20I'm well. First of all, tell us about yourself. What brings you to office and to this campaign coming up?

Lourdes Barroso de Padilla 01:27Sure. So I'm finishing my second year on council. I am the daughter of immigrants. My parents are from Cuba, and they came to Columbus — shockingly, there's not a direct pipeline from Havana, Cuba, to Columbus, Ohio. Like most immigrants, migrants, or refugees, they knew somebody. And so they came with my sisters in the '70s, and I was born six years later. We have been lifelong East Siders. My dad's first job was at the Kahiki, and my mom's first job was at my aunt's beauty shop — my aunt was the reason that we came here, as a good family friend. And she swept hair and washed heads for a quarter a head and learned English by watching soap operas. And literally, my entire existence — our first apartment was at what was then Beverly Manor, later became Greenbrier, which is the site of the Africentric school now, and then an apartment in Whitehall, and then the house that my parents actually live in now, which is where my mother still lives to this day. And it's the only family home that we have, a house that my mother still pays for to this day, unfortunately. And I grew up a total Columbus-centric existence, you know, going to — I mean, literally, my high school and middle school and elementary school were all within walking distance of my house. And so for the two years, I was bused by Franklin Park. So literally, four to five miles. That was my life. And for high school — people ask, you know, this gentleman asked, it tells me a lot about you once I know what high school you went to. But after high school, I did a program called City Year. It's an AmeriCorps program. So I did two years of service as a younger person.

Tim Fulton 03:11Did they let you keep the khakis and the jacket?

Lourdes Barroso de Padilla 03:14Do you get —

Tim Fulton 03:16I actually have some of it. Well, I imagine you have the red jacket.

Lourdes Barroso de Padilla 03:19I do. I do. I don't wear the khakis, but I have them. Yeah, the khakis — good luck, curvy girl, you know? But I worked on the south side of Columbus, turning an old church into a community center. And that was really a turning point for me. And I mean, it's crazy to say that at, like, 17, but I just loved the work. We had an after-school program and a free store where people could shop with dignity. So you came in, and we acted like you were in a real store, like, "What sizes do you need?" and we pulled things for you, and we wrapped it up. And a breakfast program, and all these things that — you know, we never asked the community what they wanted. So we started knocking on doors. And that's where I learned a couple of things. Number one, not all communities look the same, but they certainly feel the same, right? So when I walked in and I talked to people in their houses, they wanted the same things. The same prosperity that brought my parents to Columbus lived in every corner of the city — lived on the south side. People wanted better jobs, they wanted better for their kids, they wanted better for themselves. I learned that proximity is everything, right? That being proximate to each other, we see each other's humanity and we understand each other — like, all the differences that our eyes see, by talking, we see that we're more alike than we are different. And I learned to listen, which is really hard — as a mother of teenagers, I know — to really listen to what people want, because even when they couldn't articulate it, they told you inherently in the stories, the experiences that they shared. So I knew then that service was going to be part of my life, no matter what. And I've been with the organization for many years. I still work at City Year now. And, you know, I got into politics really during the Obama campaign. I had volunteered for the Kerry campaign when I lived in Boston for a while. And then during the Obama campaign, I was helping get people registered to vote and talking to people about why it was important. And I think it was such an inspirational time for the country, and we looked at politics differently. And so that caught fire, and it certainly inspired me to think about what my next step was, and what I wanted to do with my life. And I wasn't sure if I wanted to be in office or wanted to work for a politician. And so essentially, it was through that work that I really started to get more engaged and involved in Columbus, after I moved back here from living on the East Coast for a while. And so I worked with a lot of different organizations, and just saw the incredible growth that Columbus was going through, and how Columbus was changing. And, you know, coming from Boston, where I was paying almost $2,000 for rent in 2006 — yeah, right — I saw us on that trajectory, as a city. And so I wanted to be part of it. I firmly believe that Columbus is on the precipice of deciding what kind of city we want to be, and to be part of that process, and to give voice to it from my lived experiences. I mean, immigrants, migrants, or refugees are the number one factor behind our population growth. Yet my parents, in the 50 years that they've been in this country, have never seen anyone locally who looks like them, or has their shared experience, sitting at the table making decisions for them. So the population of immigrants, migrants, or refugees — we have, like, 150-some thousand. I mean, those numbers are shaky, I believe, because of census and other things and how we count people. But over the course of the next years, projections are that it could get up to a million — no, sorry, by 2050, it could get up to a million. And that changes the city, right? And how are we preparing ourselves for that change? And how are we thinking about and considering those communities? Because it's an asset that they chose us, right? And that's what makes the city great. It adds to the culture of the city, it adds to the diversity of the city, it adds to all the city's assets. And so I deeply believe that representation is important. And it's more than just representing, you know, immigrants, migrants, or refugees, feeling like I'm part of that community. As a first-generation American, it's also about all the rest of my life experiences — you know, doing AmeriCorps, serving my country in a very different way, being proximate to community, being a community organizer. I just felt like that was a different perspective that I could bring to council. And when I really started to see that I could forge a path to be the first Latina — and for me, it wasn't just about being the first, right, it's about setting the path for the fourth and the fifth and the sixth after me. And if I could do it, then I know that we could do that for the African diaspora, we could do it for the Asian diaspora, we could do it for all of these other folks who have never been on council before, who have never brought their perspective and experiences to council to help change the conversation. And so that's really what led me on this path. And, you know, once I got onto the council, you'll see that those have essentially been all of my priorities since being on council.

Tim Fulton 08:36Talk us through some of the issues that are facing Columbus. What are they, and how would you address those on council?

Lourdes Barroso de Padilla 08:46You know, it's interesting, because I think our growth is something that we talk about a lot, but I'm not sure that people really understand what that means, right? When we talk about density, what that means and what that looks like. When we talk about having a true bus rapid transit system, what that looks like, building these corridors that we want to do with LinkUS — it's hard for people to visualize, like, why would we develop around a bus line? Right? These are concepts that I think we haven't done the best job of really having a community conversation with our residents about — what that means, and how that's going to change our city, our neighborhoods, and literally, quite frankly, their lives. And I think with that growth, that brings both prosperity and opportunity, but also challenges, because none of the challenges that we had before go away. And quite frankly, we've had a lot of these challenges before, right? We had a transportation challenge. I mean, tell me a time in the city where someone couldn't get somewhere because they didn't have a car, right? Or because COTA didn't have all of the lines that we need? Or you couldn't get to that great job because — I mean, my mother has never driven a day in her life. So COTA quite literally was our second car growing up. And my mother used to work right downtown at a medicine packing company that then moved to the west side of Columbus, and we lived on the east side. So literally, my mother spent almost four hours a day commuting to that job.

Tim Fulton 10:24A lot of time on the number 10.

Lourdes Barroso de Padilla 10:26Yes. And if anything happened — anything, a car accident, a freeway shut down, or whatever — we weren't seeing my mom for a while. And, you know, my mom was the one who cooked dinner, my mom was the one who — when she worked different shifts, it affected it differently. So I understand the complexities of what it looks like when you don't have access. And so all of those things — the growth is driving all of the things that we're talking about today. The housing crisis, transportation, economic development — everything that we're talking about really centers around that growth. I just think it's about, how do we connect the dots for folks? And how do we help them come to a place of understanding what this change is going to look like for them?

Tim Fulton 11:17Great. Talk to us about how you feel about the new districting system, and how that's going to affect folks.

Lourdes Barroso de Padilla 11:25Yeah, I mean, it's interesting. I think that we've had one structure of government here in the city of Columbus for a really long time. And we heard the people when they said, "We want more representation." And theoretically — and I know the Council President always gives us an analogy, which I think is a good one — you know, all city council members can live in, like, one apartment building. And I feel like, as a lifelong East Sider, I understand the east side in a way that other folks might not, right? I understand that our basements flooded because we live, like, on a downslope, and we're right by, like, Alum Creek — where Alum Creek comes through. I understand the challenges that we have on Broad Street and McNaughten. I understand the significance of a slum on that property, and what that can mean for the whole east side corridor. I understand what it means to live between two other municipalities like Whitehall and Bexley, right, and to drive in and out of them, and to see the growth of those areas and how it's improving, and then it looks very different when you're in Columbus. And that is unique to me, because that's my home. But I also lived on the south side for 11 years, and fundamentally understand parts of the south side from my time being there for a decade. And so I think that having that representation is so important for our residents. And I feel that, if you feel like the south side or the west side has been struggling for years, and they haven't had representation for years, in your mind, you can very easily draw a correlation to, like, "What about us?" And so the need for residents to feel like they have that representation, I think, is important. I also understand that — you know, I've lived in other cities where we've had different structures, where districts start to fight with other districts about what they want, and what they need, and who's going to get what this go-around. And the way that the district maps are drawn, I mean, there are some districts that are more, or differently, resourced than other districts, right? I mean, if you look at District 7, it has literally everything, and it's the heart of the city, right? And so that feels very different when you get to District 8, and District 9, or District 1, who are, like, on the edges of the city, and it feels very different to live out there. And so I think that this was a compromise — a compromise to say, how do we kind of have the best of both worlds, of folks feeling like they have representation, but then also me feeling as connected to the east side as I do to every part of the city, feeling like I represent the south side and the west side and the north side and the far east, just as much as I represent my little part of the city, right? And so we're going to try it, and we're going to see how this works. And folks should hold us accountable. And then we get an opportunity to review it and say, this is the thing that works, and this is the thing that doesn't work.

Tim Fulton 14:31And just to translate back what you're saying: it's basically based on geographic proximity, which is something you were talking about a second ago. It's important to have representation, but you still remain accountable to every citizen.

Lourdes Barroso de Padilla 14:45Yes. Because I think that — again, other places, even Cleveland, that's not that far away — when you're in that ward system, it starts to get really tricky when you talk about development, when you talk about zoning, when you talk about all of these other things. And I think that it has been our approach — however people feel about it, it's our approach to think about and look at the whole city. And is there a better job that we could do? Absolutely. There's always going to be a better job that we could do. I think that we're on the track to doing that. But we're going to see how this district thing works. And, you know, my hope is that once this catches on, people understand it, and we don't have another election where there's, you know, nine candidates with only three opponents, right?

Tim Fulton 15:33I hope not. Last question — well, last big bucketed question. What do you bring to the table? Why should folks vote for you?

Lourdes Barroso de Padilla 15:42Yeah. I mean, I'll kind of end where I started. I think that I bring a different perspective to city council. And my hope is that people have seen it in the work that we've done. We were able to pass some pay equity legislation that essentially removes employers from asking your past salary history in the application process. And we did that because — you know, women, we're still fighting for equal rights. And so we're not getting paid what we deserve to get paid, and we're sliding backwards. And Latina Equal Pay Day has gone back almost two full months from where we started before the pandemic. So we're making less money on the dollar than our white male counterparts, right? And so this was a small way for us to move closer to pay equity, to make it a true salary negotiation between an employer and a potential employee. And quite frankly, this means everyone makes more money — even the white dude that already makes more money than I do. You're welcome. So we've done that. We've done some really solid work around thinking about transportation. And I'm not sure — I'll be completely candid — with all the transportation issues I shared, I'm not sure that I always thought about transportation as an equity issue in the way that I do now. From, like, street resurfacing, to making sure that pothole doesn't pop that tire that's going to send your life into chaos, because you're going to have to get a payday loan to pay for that tire, or get, like, a shitty tire from that tire place down the road, and you're going to have to keep paying for it, and then eventually you're going to realize you need a good tire, and you're still going to have to make that expense, right? Like, infrastructure is important to people's lives every day. And that's ultimately the thing they care about. I get more calls — like, pay equity was great, and people love that, but you know what they really care about? A sidewalk. And they really care about their street. They really care about a bus not getting there on time. They really care about the things that affect them and their families and their neighborhoods and the people that they love every day. And I think that's what our office does. My office is all three Latina, we're all three first-generation Americans. We bring different perspectives. We really work on things as a team together as an office, to really push on the perspectives. We really try to listen to residents and elevate their concerns, pull back legislation. Sometimes we vote no on things even when it's not popular. And I think if you look at the things that we've been able to both push forward, and the places where we have said no, folks can see that when I came into office, I wanted to ensure that my decisions as a legislator were solely focused on the prosperity of our people and our families. And every decision for me — whether it's a zoning decision, or, you know, buying more refuse trucks — it is, how is this helping our people and our families? And I think that if you look at our record, my record, you will see that that's consistent. And I think that's why people should vote for me. And quite frankly, the unfortunate truth is, right now they don't have another choice. My hope is that they do. They did have another choice in 2021 — they chose me, and I hope that they continue to do that. And I hope that, in my next election cycle, I hope to have someone who challenges that, so that the people really truly do have a choice. But that always, in any scenario, even in one where I don't have an opponent, they're still holding me accountable.

Tim Fulton 19:35Absolutely. I end every interview with two questions. What do you think Columbus is doing well, and what do you think Columbus is not doing so well?

Lourdes Barroso de Padilla 19:46I think that we're on track to planning for our growth. And what I mean by that is, I think that we are really looking at other cities — similar cities, an Austin or a Charlotte, etc. — where the growth overcame them. Certainly like a storm, right? And they weren't able to keep up, and they lost opportunities. And I think that we put together a comprehensive housing plan to really think about, how are we again getting more housing stock out there, but doing so in the most equitable fashion, and thinking about all facets — from, like, how do we make homeownership, which is one of the things I'm championing, how do we make it more accessible to people, and how do we put them on a path to homeownership, to how are we protecting tenants and their rights when they're in their homes? To bus rapid transit, working on LinkUS, and really making a concerted effort to educate folks to get us bus rapid transit. You know, I know folks want a very sexy light rail. This is what we're getting. And I assure people, bus rapid transit — it does feel like a train. You know, it's quicker, it's more efficient, there's more ways to pay. I think that that is also going to be a strategy for housing, that's also going to be a strategy for growth, that's also going to be a strategy for economic development. So I think that we're on the road to building out what our growth looks like, and addressing it in a way that other cities weren't ready for.

Tim Fulton 21:35And what are we not doing so well?

Lourdes Barroso de Padilla 21:37I don't think we're good storytellers.

Tim Fulton 21:39Okay.

Lourdes Barroso de Padilla 21:40And what I mean by a story is the most basic meaning of the story — like, I don't think that we do the best job of always educating our community about the things that matter.

Tim Fulton 21:56Are you talking about Columbus as a whole? Are you talking about council? Are you talking about Columbus residents?

Lourdes Barroso de Padilla 22:04I think I'm talking more about city government. Okay, council. I don't think that we — and I thought about both of these questions from a council perspective, or from a city perspective — I think that we don't do a good job of really explaining to folks the things that are happening every Monday night down at council. And that is evident from, like, even attendance at council, right? There are some things that I'm like, "Oh, my gosh, this is huge," and no one shows up. And then there's another thing that, perhaps they've heard of, or they've learned from their area commission, or a place like Columbus Underground says, "Hey, guys," or something happens on Twitter, and then we get a bunch of people that show up, right? I don't think we do a good job. I also don't think we're modern — like, we don't use TikTok and Twitter and all these things to our advantage, right? And I think that we could be doing that better. So that's from a very, like, government perspective. I think the real people of Columbus — I mean, I think that, like, our art scene is getting super exciting. More public art, making Columbus really a place that feels more inclusive and is beautiful, right? And, you know, we put some money forth for a program, 614 Beautiful, that allows you to create art in every community and gives you funds to do that. But I think, as a community, that's happening. We have an incredible art community that cares about that, and is, like, our natural developers. We see that in Franklinton, we saw that in the Short North, right? Like, artists are — and so I'm really excited about that. I think, like, as a city, what we could be doing better is, again — people, yeah, we need to go all in on Columbus, man. Like, we need to love it.

Tim Fulton 23:51Well, and isn't that actually kind of an extension of "we're not good storytellers"? And I've — I'm on a slightly new kick of, like, maybe we don't do a good enough job of understanding and acknowledging our history, and telling that to folks. And, like, you know, I have one friend who does indeed have the city crest tattooed on him. But it's not like — people have Ohio tattoos, they don't have — I have a Columbus tattoo, but, yeah.

Lourdes Barroso de Padilla 24:27Prime Cincinnati people. And I lived in Cleveland for a little while — it's not like it's rooted in, like, just sports teams, it's like they go hard for their city. It's funny, quick story. I was getting on a plane, and I met a gentleman — we had, like, a crazy layover because of all these storms — and I met a gentleman who was from Cleveland. He had done some work in Columbus, and he was like, "Columbus has no, like, personality, like, no vibe." And I was like, "Yes, we do." And it was funny, because he was trying to tell me, he's like, "Well, what is it, right?" And I'm like — like, what's Cleveland's vibe, like, just being gritty, or just being, you know? And this is like no knock to any other city — no, yeah, I'm just talking about us. Like, I think we need to love our city. People go hard for their neighborhood; they want to go hard for the city. And I feel like that's almost, like, the vibe of Columbus — it'd be almost like to both love and hate Columbus. Maybe that's our vibe, I don't know. But I do think that we just need to, like — at one point, when, like, Columbus really, like, happens, like, we're the second-largest city in the Midwest, and people need to remember that, outside of Chicago. About to be the 13th-largest city in the country, right? Like, we have amazing things going for us. But, like, don't get on the bandwagon once, like, Columbus hits. When we really are, like, baby Chicago, and people are like, "Oh my God, Columbus" — I don't want your love then. I need your love now.

Tim Fulton 25:53Lourdes, thank you for your time today.

Lourdes Barroso de Padilla 25:55Thank you for having me.

Tim Fulton 26:06Thank you for listening to the Confluence Cast, presented by Columbus Underground. Again, you can get more information on what we discussed today in the show notes for this episode at theconfluencecast.com. Please rate, subscribe, and share this episode of the Confluence Cast with your friends, family, contacts, enemies, your favorite family member. If you're interested in sponsoring the Confluence Cast, get in touch with us. We can be reached by email at info@theconfluencecast.com. Our theme music was composed by Benji Robinson. Our producer is Phil Cogley. I'm your host, Tim Fulton. Have a great week.