After the June 18 Columbus Council meeting, Tyson Begly shared in his final newsletter the top 10 lessons he learned while serving as an interim citywide representative.
Begly, 44, is senior vice president for corporate investments at West Point-based Highline , which provides high-speed internet service to rural and underserved homes and businesses. He has chaired the Columbus Public Safety Advisory Commission and a Columbus Charter Review Commission subcommittee.
The council appointed him in April 2023 to replace John House, who resigned from the citywide District 10 seat to spend more time with his ailing wife. Begly agreed to follow the custom for appointed councilors to not run for the seat when it came up for election. The custom is in order to avoid having an unfair advantage as an unelected incumbent against other candidates. Travis Chambers defeated John Anker in last month’s runoff to fill the position.
Last week, the Ledger-Enquirer visited Begly to discuss those lessons. Here are excerpts from that conversation for each listed lesson, edited for brevity and clarity.
John House’s dedication
“I heard from other councilors how much they appreciated how he was very objective and brought a new angle to the conversation,” Begly said. “I heard from so many constituents that, even when they disagreed with John, they appreciated that he was there. He was responsive. He was showing up at events. And even while I was on council, whenever I needed advice, he was just a phone call away.”
Caring councilors
“You see some of the social media stuff like, ‘Well, are they voting for this because, you know, what’s in it for them, or are they just doing this for votes.’ But I never saw that,” Begly said. “I mean, I felt like, even when we disagreed, they had their constituents in mind and the people who they resonated with. … They would not be taking this much time out of their personal lives to serve if they didn’t really care about the community.”
Respect for city employees
“I think people take for granted the spotlight that they’re in,” Begly said. “You’ll see on social media (city employees) start getting criticized, and you don’t really have that in the business world. … Most people who work for a private company aren’t getting in front of the public and speaking and answering questions in the hot seat, … and they always did it very professionally. They were very calm and respectful, and so I appreciate that very much.”
Councilors as delegates or trustees
Delegates vote based on what they think is the majority opinion of their constituents, regardless of their personal view. Trustees vote for what they think is best for the majority of their constituents based on their experience, education, research and judgment.
Begly considered himself as a trustee while on the council.
“To me, the idea of just tallying (the opinions he received from constituents), like, ‘Well, here’s what a lot of people told me, so I need to vote (a certain way),’ that doesn’t work,” he said. “A lot of times we didn’t’ hear from anyone on a topic. So to be consistent, I felt like I’ve got to view myself as a trustee, the person who is empowered to make the best decision based off all the information I have, all the research and listening to the concerns of the constituents.”
Diverse expectations
Begly received a variety of opinions from constituents about the council’s role and how he should act as a councilor. Some people don’t trust the government and don’t want it involved in their lives; others want their government to solve their problems. Some people want councilors to focus on the city’s daily operations; others want councilors to focus on the long-term strategy. Some want councilors to be diplomatic; others want counselors to be confrontational.
“So there were just different expectations,” Begly said, “… and it was interesting to see different counselors, how they acted based on who they really resonate with and helped get them elected.”
You can’t please everyone
This was a tough lesson for Begly. In his career, he usually can produce a win-win outcome after considering different opinions. But on the council, that goal too often was elusive for him.
“Even if you could address all the concerns (from constituents), they weren’t satisfied or they just maybe didn’t trust you or maybe they just didn’t want to get into the details,” he said. “… So you just kind of have to take that and try to be consistent and try to do the right thing over and over again. Hopefully, over time, you can sort of win people over.”
Votes matter
Begly realized, even when he had what he thought was an excellent idea that everyone would support — such as a new ordinance he proposed to reduce blight — it didn’t matter unless he got at least a majority of the 10 councilors to agree.
“If someone has their mind made up, there’s not much you can do about it,” he said. “… Regardless of the reason they have their mind made up, you’re not going to get the vote, so it’s not going to happen.”
Begly could change the opinion of some councilors by giving them more information, he said, “but there were others I never figured out … I did not crack the code for everyone.”
People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care
Begly referred to that quote, credited to Theodore Roosevelt, when explaining a key component to being an effective councilor.
“You’ve really got to get out there and meet people,” he said. “… There were people who had never met me before, and they were instantly hesitant. But I got coffee with them, gave them a few phone calls, and after replying to their emails, they’re like, ‘All right, this guy’s responsive.’ Then we can have a real dialogue. … So building that one-on-one relationship with everyone is very tough.”
Meetings can be a show
Begly struggled with accepting the politics of council meetings. He sensed, rather than using meetings to explore issues and solve problems — or even seek pertinent information before the meeting — some councilors too often used the meetings to make speeches instead of reach agreement.
“That’s frustrating, and I don’t know a good fix for that,” he said. “It’s important that we’re very transparent in what we’re doing. … In business, once you have the same information and understanding, you usually agree on the same approach to resolve it. But (with the council), there wasn’t that kind of back and forth. It was more, ‘OK, that’s your position; here’s my position.’ That’s just how it is, and we’re going to vote based on that.”
Rewarding experience
Serving as a councilor was a rewarding experience, Begly said, because it helped him further appreciate the city. Having traveled to more than 30 countries and lived in nine other U.S. cities, Begly said he is “very proud” to call Columbus home. He considers it “an amazing city that is going in the right direction.”
Begly called Columbus “the Goldilocks of cities,” meaning it’s not too small and not too big — just the right size.
“There’s plenty of stuff to do,” he said. “We’ve got multiple hospital systems. We’ve got several major employers, which most of the cities our size do not have. We’ve got the restaurants. We’ve got the outdoor life. We really have everything you really want. … But we don’t have the traffic. People complain about housing prices here, but it’s way better than Atlanta.”
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