Newly elected Delaware City Council at-large member Catlin Frazier said she has followed city municipal issues, both large and small, since 2019.
“I became interested in some of the issues before council,” she said.
In addition to talking to a number of other residents since then, she also has attended or watched online every council meeting.
She initially was interested in two issues. One was a discussion about widening from two to four lanes “The Point” intersection on the city’s east side, routinely a site of backed-up traffic at rush hour. The other focused on residents’ complaints about how the Delaware YMCA had handled city recreation programs and limited access to swimming facilities at the Y building on Houk Road.
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Since then, the city has regained management of municipal recreation programs and launched a long-term effort to widen The Point by replacing a railroad bridge there. Also during that time, more routine municipal functions drew Frazier’s attention.
“So many things before council don’t get the public’s attention, but they are definitely vital to the way the city runs,” she said. “I wanted to spend a lot of time learning about that. I didn’t want to learn only about the headline-making issues in the city but just the regular issues, like refuse collection and water and sewage. … They don’t make front-page news, but if they don’t happen, what happens to our city? I spent two years talking (to residents) about that, the things that I think are important as we grow.”
Frazier, 38, said, “I’m an elder millennial, as I like to say. … I’m invested in what the city offers me as a young business professional raising a family. And I wanted to be a part of what Delaware looks like … for all of our residents, not just younger people. I want to see Delaware work and grow in a way that makes an equitable opportunity for all of us. Those are some of the things that really got me to thinking about ‘I should probably run.'”
Most people, she said, spend half of their lives within 50 miles of their home.
“We spend a lot of time in the area where we live,” she said. “I’m more concerned about making that space the best possible through municipal government, through public initiatives. … I don’t have a single issue that I plan on jumping on my soapbox about. There are lots of issues that concern me. And when I say ‘concern,’ I mean interest me.
“I think we have a lot of opportunities as a community to grow, but I also think that there are some areas where residents have expressed concern,” she said.
Development is always as issue during council elections, she said.
“I think a good mix of development is what is smart because we can’t stop development. We can make sure that we have smart equitable development,” Frazier said.
One challenge facing the city is housing security and a housing shortage, she said, which also is a challenge across central Ohio and much of the nation.
She said she has learned a lot about the issue in recent years, and a particular need is to make housing available for those working in the city’s service industry, such as retail and restaurant workers.
“I think it’s a challenge for us if our service-industry employees that we want in our community … cannot also find housing and afford to live in our community,” she said. “They shouldn’t have to live outside of our community to be able to support the service needs of the community. … I know that is something council also is very concerned about.”
Affordable housing was listed among priorities in the city’s comprehensive plan adopted earlier in 2021, she said.
Workforce housing is one part of a larger question of “how do we balance working with developers on the types of housing opportunities,” including single-family homes and multifamily housing, she said.
And those questions are in turn part of the city’s overall economic-development challenges, Frazier said.
Bringing jobs and economic development to Delaware is probably the challenge she would most like to help accomplish in her four-year term, she said.
“How do we make Delaware an attractive prospect to companies that are looking for a home base for their organization?” she said.
Noting that her career is in human resources and workforce development, Frazier said, 80% of Delaware residents leave the city to work.
“I’d love for them to live and work in the community,” she said.
On its Facebook page, the Delaware African-American Heritage Council said Frazier is the first Black woman to hold an at-large Delaware City Council seat. She was sworn in Nov. 15.
“I’m very honored that my fellow residents chose to elect me. I’m very honored to be the first African-American woman to serve on Delaware City Council,” she said. “I think it’s important to draw attention to the fact we are a diverse community, welcoming of all. And our residents have chosen to show that in the individuals that are representing them on council, and that’s important. … I’m truly representing every resident.”
In 1993, council elected at-large member Dennis D. Davis as Delaware’s first Black mayor. Davis was an Ohio Wesleyan University graduate who grew up in Delaware. He served as mayor until moving from the city in 1998.
When Davis died in Colorado in 2003, then-council member Joe Di Genova said Davis “did a very good job” but “had a lot of bridges to cross, being the first African-American mayor.”
“He wasn’t unanimously elected by council,” Di Genova said. “But he proved his worth and did a good job.”
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