Her dad was a Columbus Councilor for 17 years. Now, she is sworn in to the same seat
Simi Barnes was sworn in as the District 1 Columbus Councilor during Tuesday’s meeting, filling a seat that was held for 17 years by her late father, Jerry “Pops” Barnes, who died in 2024.
Before the swearing-in, Byron Hickey officially stepped down from the seat and delivered a farewell speech after the council proclaimed the day as Councilor Byron Hickey Appreciation Day.
The council chamber was standing-room-only as Superior Court Chief Judge Arthur Smith III and Probate Court Judge Marc D’Antonio administered the oath of office.
“It’s a very significant day, certainly for the Barnes family,” Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson said. “Particularly since it’s continuing a legacy started by Pops.”
After she was sworn in, the audience gave her a standing ovation as she walked up and took her seat on the council.
Barnes, a license professional counselor, then delivered a speech. She thanked the audience for attending and expressing how much serving in the District 1 seat means to her.
In 2024, Barnes criticized the council’s decision to appoint Hickey to her father’s seat. She argued she was never given the chance to make a case for serving the rest of his term after his death.
“Maya Angelou once said that people may forget what you say, but they never forget how you made them feel,” Barnes said. “Nothing better describes what happened to me nearly two years ago. We are now two days shy of the moment when I sat in the audience, and I listened as someone other than me was appointed to fill my recently deceased father’s seat.”
She watched, stunned, Barnes said, as an “outsider’s voice carried more weight than the people who knew my Dad best: his wife and kids.”
Her emails, calls and texts about filling the remainder of her father’s four-year term were unanswered, Barnes said, and she felt like she let him down.
“It was a horrible night for me,” she said.
Barnes said she felt angry because she believed her father’s legacy had been discarded and her desire to discuss filling the seat was ignored.
“I decided then that not only would I attend every meeting but that I would also sit in the front row because the one thing I’m not is a coward,” she said. “And so, y’all, I’m here.”
Barnes said, as a therapist, she has witnessed “a lot of dysfunction” while attending meetings. Her goal will be to not do business as usual, she said.
“Silence is complicity, not civility,” Barnes said. “And dysfunction grows in silence. As a member of this body, silence will reign no more. And though civility is important, it shall never come at the expense of truth because the truth will set you free in ways that civility won’t … I’m here because service is not only part of my legacy, but it’s in my bones.”
Barnes received approximately 60% of the vote for the District 1 council seat in the May 19 election against Karen Gaskins, a retired Columbus police officer.
