Meet the new Columbus Councilor behind the controversial headlines: Byron Hickey
He’s the retired police officer who won a discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against the Columbus Consolidated Government 14 years ago.
He’s also the District 1 resident who, in a controversial appointment, replaced a Columbus councilor who died in the middle of his term.
And he’s the appointed councilor who refused to be sworn in until the council changed a city law to allow him and any other CCG retirees to serve on the governing body without having their pension suspended.
That’s how the headlines have described Byron Hickey. But from the Ledger-Enquirer’s visit with him this month, it’s clear there’s plenty more to learn about this Columbus native, who attended Claflin Elementary School and Marshall Middle School, then graduated from Kendrick High School and Chattahoochee Valley Community College.
He retired with the rank of corporal from the Columbus Police Department in 2011 after 28 years, first as a patrolman and then as a detective, and now works as the director of community health assistance for New Horizons Behavioral Health. He also owns a security consulting business.
Hickey, 64, has a long history of community involvement, even out of the spotlight, through volunteer leadership roles with youth sports, schools, city commissions and church. He intends to keep advocating for progressive change in government, such as increasing city employee pay, decreasing crime, improving animal control and providing more economic development and job opportunities to neglected areas and people.
Here are highlights from our conversation, edited for brevity and clarity.
What was your reaction to the majority of the council voting for you to succeed Pops Barnes?
“It meant a lot to me. Pops Barnes had confidence in me, and he asked me to be his successor, and I agreed. We talked about it many times, and he shared it with a lot of his constituents as well as some of the council members. … Pops left behind a significant legacy, and those are some huge shoes to fill.
“I pray that God will bless me and that I could be as successful as Pops because, for me, it’s all about taking care of people and helping people.”
Your appointment wasn’t an easy process. It was plagued by the controversy about whether Pops’ daughter should be his successor and then delayed by the pension plan problem. So what does it mean to you to finally be sworn in after all that?
“With all that was happening at the time, I learned to sit back, put it in God’s hands, and whatever God’s will is for my life, God’s will will be done. So I wasn’t worried in any way or concerned. … But I’m grateful for the council’s vote on the pension issue. It not only opened the door for me to serve (on Columbus Council) but for any retired city employee.”
Why do you want to be a Columbus councilor?
“It kind of goes back to why did I ever want to be a police officer. I wanted to be a police officer because I love helping people. … Giving back to the community is something that I always wanted to do. I was the president of Eastway Youth Football for almost a decade, along with several years as president of Sally Little League Baseball, and I was one of the cofounders of Midnight Basketball.
“… Starting out as a police officer, I never thought I’d be on the council, but I’ve had many of my friends say, because I’ve been in other leadership roles, such as president of the (Columbus) Police Benevolent Association, I’ve always been a person that cares about the community, about city employees and making sure that things are being done properly and in order.
“My wife often told me that, if you want to make a change, you’ve got to get involved, and so here’s another opportunity. … I hope to get a lot done as I work with my colleagues and to help move the city forward.”
What is the most important issue you want to be an advocate for, a way to improve the city or a problem, and how should we solve that problem?
“Well, currently for me, crime is definitely a big issue. Being a former police officer, a career police detective, I know the importance of public safety, … These are the men and women in blue and brown that we’ve got to get behind and support. Because if crime is out of control, it has a negative effect on a whole lot of other things. …
“I am a big supporter of making sure that we pay our men and women in blue and brown and our general government employees a comfortable salary that would make them proud to be a part of the Columbus Consolidated Government. … But from what I’ve seen over the years, we have not really paid a lot of attention to that.
“We do pay study after pay study, but it always seems that (it benefits more of) the top tier when you give 5% or 3% raises. That’s very suspect. … The men and women in general government and the men and women in blue and brown are the people that make this government go. So, as a council person, I now have an opportunity to advocate for them as well.”
What other city problems concern you?
“We have this big issue that’s going on with animal control. I am an animal lover. I have four fur babies at home, two dogs and two cats. I think that what we see happening now is something that I’ve been praying that God gives us the wisdom to be able to fix. I just believe that we need to do a little bit more by putting more resources into this out at CACC (Columbus Animal Care and Control) to help with the problem.
“I know that we have listed to hire a full-time veterinarian, which is a great idea. I think spaying and neutering will help us with this situation. And the activists that are out and presently involved, they have a lot of good ideas too. So I think with everybody coming to the table collectively and having a conversation about what’s best, I think we can begin to move forward.
“I also would like to see more economic development in south Columbus and more of it in east Columbus. I think a city this size, being the second-largest city in the state and with an almost $350 million budget, we could make a lot of things happen. So I’m striving to work with my colleagues in addressing a lot of those issues.”
Understanding a budget is about choices and priorities, how should we pay for pay raises for lower-level city employees, improving animal control and economic development?
“You may not be able to take care of everybody up front, but if there’s a plan in place where we can pull everybody up to where they need to be at some point in this equation, then I think, overall, people would be happy with that. But to continue to just ignore it is not the answer. … We’ve got to prioritize.
“Do we continue to ignore the cries of those who take care of us, who help make this city go and just only take care of the top tier? Or do we listen to them and help pull them along by giving them the necessary raises and increases in their pay?”
How did growing up in Columbus inform your view of serving the city during your career and retirement?
“I was raised in Warren Williams Apartments. I am a proud product of public housing, and my mom and dad were both blue-collar workers. I was one of five children, the baby. My mother … often told me that God had put me here for a reason. … My biological father passed away when I was 11 years old, and we moved from public housing to Asa Drive off of Buena Vista Road. … I was a school safety patrol officer, and in the sixth grade I joined the junior police league. … I just love helping people.”
Why did you choose a career as a police officer as your main way to help people?
“It was always the idea of me being able to solve a crime and find the right person and bring them to justice. I just think that when you’ve got a heart for people, a love for humanity, no matter who they are, what walk of life they come from, you just have it in your heart to love and to care for them.”
How will your experience as a police officer help you as a city councilor?
“It’s all about love. It’s all about taking care of people. … Jesus said He didn’t come to be served; He came to serve. And so, when we as politicians get it right, that the seat that we’re in don’t belong to us — it belongs to the people — we’re here to serve the community. … You’ve got a lot of politicians that get in it with the right attitude, and along the way they they lose it, and they stray over into other areas.
“But I think that, if we can focus on being a good servant to the people, I think that you’ll start to see things heading in the right direction.”
Please give us your elevator speech about why Columbus is a good place to live.
“It’s the quality of life. … We have our challenges, … but our educational system is not a bad educational system. Our city government as a whole is not a bad city government. I think that there are a lot of things now that we have in place for families to go out and enjoy. We have Uptown — used to be called downtown when I was growing up. … We have other events that the city sponsors and puts on. We are a growing city. So I think that those would draw people and make people want to live and stay here.”
