Michelle Kozak
for Grandview
Heights City Council

I was elected to the Grandview Heights City Council in November 2021, and started my first four-year term in January 2022. As someone who had never planned to run for office, my two motivating factors were to try and pass Source of Income (SOI) protections for renters to keep them from being discriminated against based on not having W2 income and to be a representative for the people - to be someone residents could know would answer their emails and look for solutions to their questions/concerns.

Since January 2022, I have been the lead sponsor on the following pieces of legislation:

-Resolution in support of Pride Month - June 2022, June 2024, June 2025

-Resolution in support of Juneteenth - June 2024, June 2025

-Resolution in support of Black History Month - February 2025

-Updated the Yard Care Ordinance to remove milkweed as a noxious weed and to allow for managed natural landscapes to encourage residents to plant more pollinator gardens instead of turf grass. Passed April 2024

-Source of Income Nondiscrimination Ordinance including Pay to Stay - SOI is part of the Fair Housing Act in 22+ states. We were the ninth community in this region to pass this legislation, but the only one of the nine cities that had to to exclude landlords with four or fewer properties to get enough councilmembers to agree to vote for it. It is my hope that a future council will remove that exclusion. The Pay to Stay portion allows renters who face eviction to make a full payment to avoid the eviction. While this ordinance doesn't create more affordable housing, it does move us in the direction of being welcoming to all people, regardless of whether their income comes from alimony/child support, Social Security, 1099 income, Housing Choice Vouchers, etc. Passed April 2024 (6-1 vote, Panzera voting no)

In 2023, I was a co-sponsor on legislation that approved our proposed clean energy aggregation program being put to the voters in November 2023. I also worked on the Issue 23 PAC to get information out to voters. The ballot issue passed with ~82% of voters supporting it, one of the highest passage rates ever for this legislation across Ohio cities. We have been able to offer clean energy through wind RECs at a lower cost than the standard brown energy offering from AEP.

If re-elected, I plan to focus on the following topics:

  • Housing
    • Work with the city to create an ADU (Accessorty Dwelling Unit) pilot to allow homeowners to make liveable space in converted garages as a way offset mortgage costs by renting the unit or using it to allow family members to age in place, etc.
    • Change zoning code to require a percentage of affordable units in newly constructed units. This was not included in the 2022 Goodale West Area Plan, though the community did discuss that they'd like to see residential units along this corridor if properties were to be sold to developers.  
  • Sustainability
    • The new municipal building has solar panels over the back parking lot that will offset 5% of the energy used in the building. The infrastructure was put in place on top of the building for rooftop solar panels, but those were cut from the alternates list and are not currently in the budget. I would like to prioritize getting funding for these as a way to help offset the city's energy costs and at the same time help fight climate change.
    • We should allocate money in the budget for EV chargers at city buildings and push for the city to purchase only hybrids and EVs to help both with climate change and to offset the amount when spend on gas.
    • Create a curbside compost pilot that would offer another option besides our drop off compost site in order to encourage broader participation. This would help with climate change and would save the city money by reducing the amount we send to the landfill (we are charged by the weight of the trash that is taken to the landfill.)
    • See where all the candidates stand on sustainability topics via the Sustainable Grandview survey: https://www.sustainablegrandview.org/2025-candidate-questionnaire.html
  • Continue to support fiscally responsible policies within the city.

 

The section below appeared on my website in 2021.  I will continue to work on all of these if re-elected:

I am a first time candidate running for Grandview Heights City Council. The things I'm passionate about that influenced my decision to run are:

  • Finding ways to make Grandview more racially and socio-economically diverse
  • Addressing housing issues, including looking for solutions to help people afford to age in place here, reside here to access the schools for their children, etc.
  • Encouraging constituent participation in local government by reaching out to find out what's important to you, listening, and responding
  • Using the voice of our city government to increase voter turnout and register voters
  • Taking into account environmental and sustainability aspects to improve life in our community
  • Working to ensure a strong local economy

Please feel free to reach out to me and let me know what is important to you, michelle@votemichellekozak.com.

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