The Remy Problem

The impending workplace financial settlement against a sitting member of city council is likely unprecedented in Columbus history.

Columbus Councilman Emmanuel Remy

As The Rooster exclusively reported on Monday night, Columbus Councilman Emmanuel V. Remy is the subject of a workplace complaint filed by a former female aide that will result in a financial settlement after next week’s General Election.

According to sources in the City Attorney’s office and City Hall, the letter documents Remy’s toxic behavior in the workplace in a way that’s unsurprising to anyone familiar with his drinking habits or his ability to cycle through aides.

The letter, according to sources, also alleges that Council President Shannon Hardin called Remy’s wife in an attempt to curb the problematic behavior.

That effort appears to have been unsuccessful. According to multiple City Hall sources, the filing led the council to strip Remy of his aides—a disciplinary action that, as of this writing, remains in effect.

The Rooster has filed records requests in an attempt to produce that letter and will take the matter to the Ohio Court of Claims should council claim that letter is not germane to the state’s public records laws.

In the meantime, Remy and council appear to have kept this complaint and its settlement out of the traditional press until he’s re-elected to another four-year term next week.

That’s no small feat, not only for Remy, but also for the machine’s endorsed first-time candidate, Tiara Ross, who currently works in the City Attorney’s office that negotiated the settlement.

Remy endorsed Ross and, thanks to his running unopposed, has been able to transfer a staggering $71,605 to Ross’ campaign coffers in an attempt to defeat nascent outsider candidate Jesse Vogel in the historically expensive District 7 race.

That’s quite a lifeline for Ross from a man who, at the very least, isn’t currently allowed to have aides because of his obnoxious behavior with a former female subordinate.

And now, Ross will likely never have to speak on Remy’s endorsement or financial lifeline in any meaningful way before she potentially earns a seat on a legislative body representing a million people.

While attempting to overcome multiple of her own self-induced scandals, Ross has pitched the urgency of her candidacy because council lacks the perspective of a Black woman for the first team in nearly 40 years.

“There is a gaping hole right now where there are no Black women that are serving on city council,” Ross told NBC4 last week.

Council President Hardin echoed that sentiment earlier this year, when council sought to replace former District 7 council member Shayla Favor, a Black woman, who had been elected as the Franklin County Prosecutor.

Ultimately, council appointed Otto Beatty III, a Black man and stepson of Columbus Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, to the position.

While it was the ultimate insider appointment, Hardin at least deserves kudos for appointing a placeholder to the seat and seemingly ending council’s longstanding policy of allowing active members to resign with months left on their term in order to appoint a party insider who could then run as the “incumbent” in the next election.

Though it must be noted that Hardin was only able to ascend to the presidency and make that decision after he earned his original seat through that same appointment shuffle in 2016.

Still, the desire for a Black woman on council is understandable.

However, there would not be a “gaping hole” in the council’s racial equilibrium if Remy hadn’t won his appointment (on his second attempt), over Jasmine Ayers, a Black woman and longtime activist in Columbus.

There would not be a “gaping hole” in the council’s racial equilibrium if council and the Franklin County Democratic Party had not endorsed Remy over Adrienne Hood, a Black woman and military veteran, in a majority Black district of the new wards-in-name-only system, which party sachems designed to protect institutional candidates in 2023.

Remy defeated Adrienne Hood, the mother of the late Henry Green, thanks in large part to the backing of the Franklin County Democratic Party in 2023.

It’s hard to take the needs for racial equilibrium seriously when the party apparently had enough Black women on council (read: one) to back a cantankerous and often-drunk white realtor who almost assuredly is using his insider knowledge of city government to benefit his career.

Remy, ultimately, is a familiar archetype to anyone who has worked in a corporate setting: He kisses the ass of anyone he sees as above him, or at least equal, on the food chain. To those below him, he sees nothing but expendable cogs put on Earth to serve as liege to the awesome power of a forgettable city councilman.

And through that lens, Remy’s existence makes sense. He could not have come to power any other way than by working the infamous cocktail circuit.

Remy, much like Mayor Suburbs, is a relic of a bygone era. Whether the city’s powerbrokers like it or not, we’re moving into a new era, which, God willing, will dawn as soon as next week.

If Columbus is ever going to reach its potential, then figures like Remy need to go away.

Unfortunately, that won’t happen on his own accord. And thanks to the silence of those around him, it will be another four years before we can litigate the matter in front of voters again.

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The Rooster considers this investigation paused while awaiting the public records process or a chance encounter with Councilman Remy on the streets of Columbus—whichever comes first.

Regular commentary will resume on Thursday, Oct. 30 at 4:33 a.m.