Political science student, Green Party member plans to run for city office

The condition of Cincinnati politics is the driving force behind a University of Cincinnati student's bid for a seat on City Council in the 2005 election.

Andrew Warner, a third-year political science student and a member of the UC Campus Green Party, wants a seat on council because "we really need to turn things around," he said.

Warner is the second student at UC this year to plan on running for city council. The News Record ran an article Feb. 14 about Robert Wilson, a third-year urban studies student at UC, who also plans to vie for a City Council seat this fall.

But before any competition gets going, Warner is easy going. Working through the giant froth of his vanilla bean coffee, he talked about his passion for politics and his love of Cincinnati .

"I love studying the process of American politics," Warner said, having previously dabbled in the fields of philosophy and creative writing. "I love the community feel of people helping out and working together."

Lamenting the laughable decisions of the current council when dealing with issues such as public schools, public safety and the homeless, the best venue to mobilize change is a seat on City Council, Warner said.

"We don't get enough of city politicians making themselves available to the public," he said. Moreover, they are not listening to citywide unrest.

Complaints of crime and public safety fall on deaf council members' ears, according to Warner.

He talked about the police chases that have more than once ended in nabbing a suspect literally at his doorstep, located on the northern fringes of Over-the-Rhine - with guns drawn.

"[City Council members] have neglected Over-the-Rhine and other areas to the point that it's disgusting," he said.

Cincinnati public schools also face a desperate future too, according to Warner.

"We need to put more money into schools," he said. Warner is concerned about raising a family here and having to put his children through a public school system categorized by Cincinnati Magazine as an "Academic Emergency."

He wants to explore an equitable use of school vouchers, the government-funded program that gives cash to parents, enabling them to send their children to the public or private school of their choice.

"Some say that [vouchers] segregates students, but that's already happened here," he said. "[Cincinnati Public Schools] already left a lot of people behind in bad schools, and you can't separate minorities into the lowest level schools."

With a little fine-tuning of the program, vouchers are a "good alternative," Warner said.

He also talked at length about how hard it is to get people into politics.

"People are apathetic and have lost their faith in government," he said.

Therefore, running on a low budget campaign keeps Warner focused on the "small victories."

His ultimate goal is "to get people involved, to believe in their city and make them more aware," he said. "People have to be active in the process to make [government] work to their benefit. Rich people shouldn't be the only ones running things."

Warner sees some small victories through his involvement in the UC Campus Green Party, which is planning Voter Awareness Week Feb. 28 through March 4 to encourage participation in young voters.

Even though Warner does not yet have the official endorsement of the Ohio Green Party, members are still impressed.

"We think it's great that he's running," said Logan Martinez, a member of the state and

national coordinating committee who works with the party's candidates.

"While the political system is controlled by insiders, we need

all kinds of citizens to run for office," Martinez said. "We need young people to step up and get

involved - it's your future, even moreso than mine."

Warner has 100 of the 500 valid signatures that he needs to get on the ballot. And then there's the matter of raising money.

He's raised $500 and shoots for $1,200, which is the minimum amount that a solid grassroots campaigner expects to raise, according to Warner.

"I'm a realist," he said. "Of course, more would be nice."

For more information

on Warner's platform, visit his

Web site at http://www.geocities.com/agwarner05/warnerforccc.