By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
For 16 years, John Zanfardino has been a voice on City Council for Bowling Green’s East Side residents.
Sometimes, that voice wasn’t as loud as he wished it to be – though his heart was consistently on the side of the less fortunate, the less listened to, the less powerful.
When first appointed, the Brooklyn-born Zanfardino had no idea what the job entailed. After working for the John Kerry presidential campaign in 2004, he was asked to fill the Second Ward council seat vacated when Mike Zickar moved from Bowling Green.
“I was really green,” Zanfardino said. “I was kind of ignorant of local government.”
But he quickly got an education about being a ward representative from people like Rose Hess, an organizer of the East Side neighborhood association. She and others schooled their new council member on the issues affecting Second Ward residents – who share their neighborhoods with renting college students.
“I grew into the role,” Zanfardino said. “I was kind of a shy person, who didn’t like to speak in public. But on council, you have to get over that. What a privilege it was.”
After 16 years, Zanfardino attended his final council meeting earlier this month. He and his wife, Marie, have moved from the southeast ward of the city to the northwest ward, so he could not run for re-election.
“It’s a sad feeling to be leaving,” Zanfardino said during his last meeting. “This has been an incredible experience.”
Zanfardino grew up in a “rough part” of Brooklyn, before his lower middle class family was forced by eminent domain to move to Long Island when he was 8.
“I’ve always been happy to have that urban Long Island mix,” he said. “That shaped who I was as I grew up.”
His mother and brother still live in Long Island, and Zanfardino returns to visit four or five times a year.
Zanfardino followed his brother to Bowling Green to go to college, where he earned a master’s in sociology. He worked as a mental health case manager, at a methadone clinic, and then in services for people with developmental disabilities.
After volunteering up to 20 hours a week in the “get out the vote” campaign leading up to the 2004 presidential election, Zanfardino was appointed to the Second Ward council seat. In all the elections following that, he was either unchallenged or “marginally” opposed for the seat.
Though Zanfardino’s was not one of the louder voices on council, there were several issues over his 16 years that inspired him to take stands. The first was the anti-discrimination ordinances that were put to a public vote to guarantee fair housing, employment and service in establishments regardless of sexual orientation.
“That was part of my ongoing political awakening,” he said, recalling that he was asked to sponsor the ordinances. “Given who I was, I didn’t have to think about it at all.”
The anti-discrimination efforts attracted the attention of the New York Times and Washington Post.
“No one in Northwest Ohio had ventured into this,” he said. “People like myself saw it as evidence that people are discriminated against on a daily basis.”
It was tough convincing some in the community that “equal rights” did not mean “special rights.”
“It’s an important part of our history,” he said.
Zanfardino is proud of other actions he stood up for on city council – even if some failed.
One is the effort to create Complete Streets, with more accommodations for bicyclists, like Zanfardino himself.
“I think we’re inching ahead on this,” he said. “I hold out a lot of hope for the city.”
Another was the unanimous vote by City Council after the COVID pandemic arrived to mandate masks in Bowling Green in the summer of 2020.
“That’s something I look back on with great pride,” he said.
Though he was in the minority, Zanfardino took pride in voting against a pipeline crossing city-owned property on its way under the Maumee River, and in pushing for a plastic bag ban in Bowling Green.
“I think it was important to fight and lose on plastic bags,” he said. “Every level of government has kicked the can down the road.”
But there were also times when Zanfardino wished he had stood stronger when it was clear that he was on the losing side.
“There are a couple votes I regret,” he said. One was when he joined with the majority of council members and sided with a group of angry residents demanding to preserve street parking on the easternmost block of Conneaut Avenue, rather than continuing the bike sharrows on the street.
“The other big regret was voting for Prairie State,” a contract to buy electricity from a coal-fired power plant, he said.
Then there have been the multiple attempts to establish meaningful legislation for rental housing inspections. Zanfardino recalled early in his council career when a meeting about rental inspections was moved to the municipal court because of the large crowd expected.
“There must have been 60 landlords there that night,” he said.
“In the name of playing nice with everyone,” Zanfardino voted against the inspection legislation. He still regrets that vote. “I wish I would have had the courage to go with my gut.”
This past year, the issue was raised again, this time with Zanfardino heading the committee studying the rental inspection options. Though legislation was approved, it fell short of what Zanfardino had hoped for.
“It’s disappointing. We’re kicking the can down the road,” he said. “It’s a baby step. There’s nothing else you can call it.”
The legislation is dependent upon tenants coming forward to report problems. As a Second Ward council member, who heard about “horrible conditions” from student renters, he said the legislation was far from enough.
“We took a tiny step,” he said.
During his last council meeting, Zanfardino was thanked by fellow council members for his commitment to the community.
“Thank you very much for your service to our city,” City Council President Mark Hollenbaugh said.
“It is a notable achievement for you to be on council for 16 plus years,” fellow council member Bill Herald said.
Mayor Mike Aspacher served 10 years on City Council with Zanfardino.
“John was passionate about those issues that affected the East Side of Bowling Green,” Aspacher said.
Zanfardino was a constant advocate for residents of the East Side.
“He was relentless working for improvements to the quality of life in neighborhoods,” the mayor said.
In his retirement, Zanfardino plans to spend more time playing guitar, reading books, traveling and bicycling.
He intends to stay involved in the community, possibly attending board of education and board of health meetings now that his evenings will be free.
“I want to become an active citizen again,” he said.
And he hopes to return to his past volunteer work of registering voters.
“I want to be part of the democratic process,” Zanfardino said.
