Joe Motil is a neighborhood advocate, father, grandfather, and Union construction worker with a history of fighting for Columbus working families. Son of a union carpenter and a working mother, Joe grew up in Clintonville with his 10 brothers and sisters. Growing up, Joe saw how hard his parents worked to put food on the table, and experienced firsthand how union benefits improve the lives of working families.
As a community leader from a union family, Joe knows how powerful everyday people can be when they come together to make real change.
By age 21 Joe had started working a seasonal construction job raking, finishing and jack hammering concrete for new housing developments around Columbus. A few years later he started work as a union laborer for Local 423, where he worked for 25 years before becoming a Construction Safety Manager. In his new role, Joe worked with multi-cultural men and women workers and learned how to successfully advocate for the needs of everyone on his construction sites.
When he wasn't at the construction site, Joe was an active member of a unified University District community. He lived on a block with lifelong residents and neighborhood activists committed to protecting the dignity and integrity of their neighborhood as the city grew. Joe worked closely with his neighbors to advocate for the preservation of their homes, local businesses and shared public spaces and has been fighting for working families ever since.
Joe soon became a regular at City Council meetings. He facilitated conversations between elected leaders and community advocates and lobbied Council members to invest much-needed resources to his neighborhood. Working families were getting priced out across the city, homes were being demolished at an alarming rate and the quality of life in our neighborhoods was in decline. A wealthy and powerful few were turning neighborhoods into their own personal playgrounds.
It wasn't long until Joe saw that, as long as money was changing hands between Council members and real estate developers who were swimming in cash, the needs of his neighborhood would continue to be ignored. After Columbus lost another $100 million in tax savings to luxury real estate developers in 2017, Joe realized he couldn't sit on the sidelines this election cycle.
As a community leader from a union family, Joe knows how powerful everyday people can be when they come together to make real change. That's why he's running. He made a pledge — no corrupt political machines, no big money PACs and no back-door lobbyists. He's putting all his faith and effort into everyday people, families and communities.