COLUMBUS, Ohio – Politics, as the saying goes, makes strange bedfellows. Few would be stranger than the liberal Rev. Al Sharpton and the conservative billionaire Koch brothers, but each, in a way, are opposing the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium levy request on the May 6 ballot in Franklin County.
The Columbus Action Network, the local affiliate of Sharpton’s American Action Network, posted a statement on its website on March 31, explaining its opposition to Issue 6, a 1.25-mill continuing levy, which would replace the current 0.75-mill levy that expires in 2015.
A flyer mailed out this week was published by American for Prosperity, a Virginia-based political-action committee funded by conservative industrialists David and Charles Koch. The PAC spent $122 million supporting efforts to defeat President Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election, but has turned its attention this year to smaller, local races.
The chair of the organization campaigning for the levy characterized Americans for Prosperity as a group from outside central Ohio that has “deep pockets and extreme views.”
“They call themselves American for Prosperity but they oppose a levy [for a zoo] that creates $238 million in job-related income,” John Kulewicz, chair of the Committee for the 2014 Columbus Zoo Levy, said.
The CAN website criticizes the issue for funding a planned satellite zoo downtown and because it taxes Franklin County residents to support a zoo located in Delaware County.
The AFP-backed mailer asks “Can you afford a 105% property tax hike?”; describes the levy request as a “money grab” and blasts the downtown zoo, which has also been a focus of criticism by Citizens For Responsible Taxation, the local organization opposing the levy request. A spokesman for the group says it had nothing to do with the flier and did not know about it until this week.
Kulewicz’s committee argues that the downtown zoo will account for only 9 percent of the funds set aside for 15 capital projects planned over the next 30 years.
“There is only one Columbus Zoo,” he said.
Fundraising and spending by the levy’s supporters dwarfs that of its opponents, according to campaign finance reports released Thursday.
According to the documents filed with the Franklin County Board of Elections, The Committee for the 2014 Columbus Zoo Levy raised more than $500,000 — $350,000 of it from the Columbus Zoological Park Association – and spent $465,000 while Citizens for Responsible Taxation raised only $3,170 and spent $1,096.
Zoo officials announced Thursday that its Heart of Africa exhibit will open on May 22, a few weeks after the election. The $30.4 million, 43-acre exhibit promises “up close” experiences with 130 animals, including lions, cheetahs and ostriches.
The Heart of Africa features camel rides, an entrance plaza resembling an African village, cheetah runs and giraffe feeding.