2021 Candidate Questionnaire on
Environmental Sustainability

Candidate Responses:  Steve Reynolds
[email protected]

  1. Background
    What would you like Grandview residents to know about your background, as it relates to the environment, climate, and conservation?  If applicable, please describe any  relevant educational, career, or service experience you have.

    During my 14 years on City Council and 30+ years in commercial real estate, I have gained a solid appreciation for the importance of environmental and sustainability considerations.  While on Council, I helped to promote programs that increased recycling and composting participation, facilitated transitioning to clean-energy alternatives, and supported public transportation.  

    As a real estate professional, I have witnessed environmentally friendly design and building techniques (e.g., green-building technology and LEED certification) transform from well-intended but costly luxuries to widely accepted cost-efficient imperatives.  Institutional investors and many of America’s largest corporations now support — or even require — sustainable construction design and operational systems.  

    Our City needs to pursue a similar course by embracing the long-term environmental and economic benefits of such policies.  This should include a wide range of programs to encourage recycling, public transportation, and clean energy.

  2. Priorities, Values, and Philosophy
    To what extent do environmental concerns drive your priorities as a citizen and candidate for City Council?  Please share your philosophy and values as they relate to the environment and sustainability.

    Issues pertaining to sustainability and the environment have been — and will continue to be — a major priority for me as both a citizen and a council member.  Grandview Heights should be leading the way in terms of following best practices to promote the conservation of resources and the protection of our environment.  Unfortunately, the City has been slow and inconsistent in embracing meaningful policies with regard to sustainability and the environment.  For example, the City’s new and newly-renovated facilities have perpetuated a reliance upon fossil fuels and have failed to incorporate even a modest amount of clean-energy alternatives.  We need to make sustainability a primary consideration — not an afterthought — when enacting new legislative initiatives and undertaking new construction projects. 

  3. Greenspace
    Describe the importance of our community’s parks, greenspace, and tree canopy to you.  As a City Council member, what steps would you take, if any, to preserve and/or expand these local assets? 

    While on Council, I advocated strongly for expanding and enhancing the City’s parks.  This included pushing for additional and more meaningful greenspaces in the original agreements establishing Grandview Yard in 2009 and within the south-of-Goodale expansion of the Yard in 2019.  

    In 2009, while serving as Council President, I lobbied hard for parkland and civic space within Grandview Yard.  As part of those negotiations, we secured an option for the City to add one or two acres of civic space at the Yard.  

    Unfortunately in 2014, while I was not on Council, the City surrendered its option. {Ordinance 2014-25: Councilmembers Hastie, Panzera, and Smith voted in favor of surrendering the option.}

    In 2019, when the City's approval was being sought for an expansion of the Yard south of Goodale Boulevard, I again pushed hard for at least a modest amount of green space for residents in the new section of the project.  Sadly, my colleagues moved forward with approving the expansion with zero park space. {Ordinance 2019-06: Councilmembers Houston, Panzera, and Smith voted in favor of the ordinance.  I voted against the ordinance.}

    In my years off of Council, I have continued to work for preserving and expanding Grandview’s natural resources.  For example, I led efforts to fight the needless destruction of dozens of mature trees along Northwest Boulevard.

  4. Transportation
    Describe your views and/or policy positions on transportation in Grandview.  What should the City’s priorities be in this domain?  Please share any specific ideas or proposals related to pedestrian and bicycle routes, public transit, and/or electric vehicle infrastructure.  

    Designing and investing in policies and solutions that are not solely auto-centric need to be higher priorities.  I have a solid track record of encouraging pedestrian- and cyclist-friendly policies, as well as supporting public transportation.  

    For example, well-maintained sidewalks are essential to a pedestrian-friendly community.  While on Council, I pressed the City to take financial responsibility for sidewalks that are on public property rather than to rely upon individual property owners to coordinate and pay for repairs and replacements.  Sadly, the Council rejected the proposal.  {Ordinance 2019-15: Councilmember Houston and I voted in favor of the proposed ordinance.  Councilmember Panzera voted against it.  Councilmember Smith was absent.}  

    My efforts were not completely in vain as Council subsequently adopted an intermediate solution.  It offers residents the option of having the City coordinate the completion of sidewalk repairs, even if residents are still responsible for paying the bill.

    As we move forward with plans for a new Municipal Building, I will advocate to have electric vehicle charging stations and ample bicycle parking incorporated within the plans.  We should also consider supplementing such amenities at the City’s other facilities and parks.

  5. Solid Waste
    What are your positions on trash, food waste, recycling, litter, and single-use plastics?  What, if anything, can Grandview do better in these domains, and what specific policies or programs would you pursue as a member of Council?

    While on Council, I supported numerous initiatives to reduce the flow of solid waste heading to landfills.  This included pressing for citywide collection of compostable food waste and ensuring that there are adequate recycling containers at all of our parks.  

    I had also proposed involving students in an educational campaign to increase awareness about recycling.  We could work with the School District to repurpose the City’s old aggregate trash barrels by having our talented young artists transform the containers into works of art and then place them near the schools, the library, and our parks, as well as along Grandview Avenue. 

    It is unfortunate that industry lobbyists have pushed the Statehouse to trample the concept of Home Rule by prohibiting local municipalities from enacting programs to discourage single-use plastics.  Despite the State’s misguided overreach, there are still many ways that Grandview Heights can continue to improve in addressing these issues.  The efforts should involve an ongoing program to provide the public with information about how they can be a part of the solution.

  6. Renewable Resources
    Renewable electricity is now cost-competitive with traditional sources of electricity – and it continues to trend downward in price.  Do you support joining other leading Central Ohio cities – including Columbus, Bexley and Grove City – in giving Grandview residents and businesses the choice of cost-competitive, 100% renewable electricity?

    Grandview Heights can and should be a leader in encouraging best practices.  One solution would be providing residents with up-to-date information and viable alternatives.  This includes working toward reducing our reliance upon fossil fuels.  

    A viable electricity-aggregation program that allows our residents to choose a renewable energy source would be welcomed by many in the community, and I would fully support it.  We can also learn from other local municipalities such as Marble Cliff who recently converted its streetlights to utilize solar energy.  

    The City should also stop squandering money and natural resources on things like irrigating roadway medians (which managed to thrive and survive without sprinkler systems for over a century).  Instead, we should invest in and encourage renewable energy as well as sustainable public spaces.  

  7. Environmental Toxins
    ​    Environmental toxins, such as lead and coal tar, pose significant threats to human health.  What should Grandview’s role be in mitigating the presence of these toxins in our air, homes, businesses, and waterways?

    ​The City should lead by example and should serve as a trusted source of information for residents and businesses.  The municipality’s desire to mitigate the presence of such toxins — and the benefit to the environment of doing so — needs to be clearly stated and publicized.  This can be accomplished through the combined use of legislation (e.g., resolution and/or proclamation), the City’s website, and social media.  Educating the public about how to avoid these threats to human health will go a long way toward achieving the goal of eliminating, or at least substantially reducing, environmental toxins within our community.