Wexner, Epstein, and the “Columbus Way”
How the national scandal exposes the risks of a city power structure void of accountability
The saying goes that there are two sources of power: organized people and organized money. Columbus, Ohio is an organized money kind of town. I’m running for Columbus City Council as a champion of organized people. The diverse and varied people of Columbus should have the power in our city, not a few unelected millionaires and billionaires.
As we learn more about the connection between Jeffrey Epstein and Les Wexner, we must also examine Wexner’s powerful role in Columbus politics and the lack of accountability his unelected status provides him. The “Columbus Way,” our city’s tradition of public-private partnership, is steered largely by Wexner. His role in city politics through his billionaire’s club can’t be overstated. But this organized money has failed to deliver a city that works for working families. Organized money has failed to put the power in Columbus residents’ hands and has instead consolidated power to a few wealthy individuals with no mechanism for objection or oversight. Organized money has failed our city.
At the heart of central Ohio’s organized money is the Columbus Partnership, a group of more than 70 Columbus-area CEOs, including Wexner as one of its founders. The political power of this high-powered business fraternity is unrivaled locally. When 26 Partnership heavyweight CEOs held a “fly-in” to Washington D.C. in 2018, they hosted a private dinner conversation at the National Museum of American history. The guest list at this closed-to-press event was a bipartisan “who’s who” of Ohio politics; including both Ohio Senators, two central Ohio U.S. House members, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther, Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin, and Franklin County Commissioner Kevin Boyce. During the recent turmoil surrounding the potential relocation of the Columbus Crew, Columbus’ Major League Soccer franchise, the title of the city’s official press release announcing that the Crew were staying was: “City and County Officials, Columbus Partnership Announce Status of Columbus Crew, Plans for MAPFRE Stadium.” So powerful is the Partnership that the city has proudly coined a term for the influence of private sector titans in Columbus politics: the so-called “Columbus Way.” The publication which covered the D.C. junket noted that “Summoning their collective weight to influence the fate of legislation that will impact the Central Ohio economy is one of the things the Partnership does best.”
The power of the Columbus Partnership isn’t just limited to lobbying for favorable policy. Campaign contributions, at-large council seats, and a tradition of appointed, rather than elected City Council members ensure that the Partnership gets to choose those who enact policy too. Consider this fact: of the last 37 Columbus City Council members, only 7 have been elected by residents without first being appointed by sitting Councilmembers. Six of the current 7 members of City Council were first appointed. This is one of the key goals of our campaign: to try to bring our city’s electoral politics back to the people, where they belong.
The man behind the curtain at the Columbus Partnership is executive committee member and co-founder Les Wexner. Described as the Partnership’s “Guiding Light,” Wexner is the billionaire CEO of L Brands, the parent company of Victoria’s Secret and other well-known retailers. Wexner is also the patriarch of an entire upscale Columbus suburb, oversees a plethora of foundations and charities, and is the namesake of parks, hospitals, and other civic institutions dotting the city map. In short, Les Wexner is at the very center of Columbus decision-making, choosing everything from streetlamps to politicians. After the 2018 D.C. trip, Columbus Partnership CEO Alex Fischer gushed: “I think it was particularly powerful on the evening after the dinner to have Les walk up with four members of Congress… I think it was a proud moment for Les, an acknowledgement that, you know, maybe we are making a little bit of a difference.”
In recent days, Les Wexner has been in the news for a different reason; he’s also a client and close personal friend of financier Jeffrey Epstein, registered sex offender and accused child sex trafficker.
Wexner has denied any knowledge of Epstein’s illegal activities. We do know, however, that millions of dollars moved between Epstein and Wexner’s charities, that Epstein had a large role in the development of Wexner’s suburban enclave, and that through Wexner, large donations from Epstein were made to The Ohio State University — the core institution of Columbus where civic pride is concerned. It has also been reported that Epstein portrayed himself to young aspiring models as gatekeeper to modeling for Wexner’s Victoria’s Secret brand — in exchange for sexual favors.
While the details of this murky relationship continue to unfold, one thing that’s crystal clear is that the “Columbus Way” is overdue for deeper examination. Legions of elected politicians have fallen due to far lesser scandals, whether resigning under public pressure or paying the price at the ballot box. But what happens when the core of a city’s power lies in the hands of unelected CEOs? Should it emerge that Wexner did have knowledge of Epstein’s activities, how could the citizens of Columbus hold the richest, most powerful man in Columbus accountable?
They couldn’t.
This example underscores a dangerous lack of democracy in the Columbus power structure. Our nation’s democracy is built on a premise of transparency and accountability. Elected officials, in exchange for their policy-making power, are required to submit to numerous disclosures, from campaign contribution records to the release of their emails through public records laws. Ultimately, voters are supposed to act as judge, jury, and executioner when deciding who governs the nation — and the city of Columbus. This system only works, however, if the elected officials are A) actually elected, and B) actually holding the decision-making power.
It’s past time for the citizens of Columbus to reclaim their voice in city government from the unelected elite.
The Columbus Way has been effective at giving massive tax abatements to developers, but it hasn’t been effective at making Columbus work for all of us. We ask: the Way to what? Wages are too low, 66,891 children in our city live below the poverty line, and a shortage of quality affordable housing means that more than 26,000 people are on a waiting list for housing vouchers. Is this where the best “Way” leads?
“The Columbus Way” has the money, political clout, and power to solve all of these problems. But City Council and the Columbus Partnership have other priorities. It’s time for a power structure that prioritizes working families.
I’m running for office for just this reason. As a union and community organizer, immigrant, mother, and Southside resident (read: not a CEO), I’ll never be able to match the money or insider power of other Partnership-connected candidates. But if you agree with me that holding decision-makers accountable and restoring the power of our local democracy is important, join our movement. I choose organized people over organized money. There are more of us, and together we can win.
