Lou Ziebold said he never had any dreams of being in politics until an alderman allegedly committed an injustice with lasting implications for the town of Walden.
“I’m running to help undo some injustice,” Ziebold said in an interview. “They will have in me high integrity with a collaborative, people-oriented approach. I’ll be listening to citizens and doing what the majority wants.”
Ziebold, 67, is challenging incumbent Lizzy Schmidt for a Walden alderman seat in the general election. The town’s government is made up of a mayor and two aldermen. All three roles are nonpartisan and unpaid positions.
At the time of the interview, Ziebold was seated in between his wife, Mary Lee, and a poster board of the proposed town center plan on his right.
The couple met for the first time when they sat next to each other in seventh grade, Ziebold said.
(READ MORE: Walden’s Ridge citizens weigh grocery store, village center)
He earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Ohio State, Ziebold said. He went on to lead business for DuPont and AstroTurf before transitioning to a business for robotic automation for Volkswagen and other companies in the automotive industry.
Ziebold has lived in Walden since 2001. He has three children. One daughter lives two miles down the road from him, and his other daughter is saving to move back up the mountain, he said.
“Obviously, I’m not a politician,” he said. “I have no dreams of ever wanting to be in politics.”
Around the same time he retired, Ziebold was asked to participate in Walden’s local planning commission.
The former Lines Orchids site is an eyesore, and community members want that land to be used beneficially, Ziebold said.
Several years of hard work went into creating a design. It resulted in a plan for a multimillion-dollar town center with space for a 30,000-square-foot grocery store, Ziebold said.
The plan also has lots of trees, gardens, outdoor eating areas, a fountain, a green space, an amphitheater, a splash pad for kids and a row of smaller stores.
“It looks quaint,” he said. “It’s village-like.”
His opponent, Schmidt, shot down the plan when it came time to vote, he said.
In an interview, Schmidt said she’s not against a grocery store. She wants to maintain the small town ethos of Walden, Schmidt said.
Schmidt also allegedly failed to disclose that she has a financial interest in property leased to another local grocer, Ziebold said. She was sued over the matter, but the case was dismissed.
The vote led to a cap on the size of the anchor store at 15,000 square feet, which was about half the size of the grocery store that was proposed.
An outside company needs to invest about $20 million to bring the design to life, and the town center plan needs the anchor store to justify the risk, he said.
“She didn’t want this grocery,” he said. “It killed the project. I was appalled.”
Currently, community members rely on Dollar General or Pruett’s Market to get food on the mountain, Ziebold said.
It’s harder for certain community members, such as older adults, to make the drive down the mountain, and many people need another food source nearby, he said. A grocery store would also reduce the traffic heading down the mountain, which is a big issue, he said.
“There’s a number of them who are really angry over this subject,” he said.
(READ MORE: Walden appears near vote on grocery store, town center)
Ziebold said he’s been door knocking, and he’s spoken to about two-thirds of the community. A vast majority want the original 30,000-square-foot plan, so the community can have the grocery store, he said.
The land use plan would generate about $400,000 in tax revenue, which is a little over a 30% increase for the town, he said.
Those funds would support several nonprofits such as McCoy Farm & Gardens, the Pumpkin Patch Playground, the Bachman Community Center and the Walden’s Ridge Civic League, Ziebold said.
Ziebold describes himself as someone who goes all in on the things he commits to and said he will work as much as needed to properly serve Walden.
“You can forever make things better,” he said.
Ziebold’s campaign did not have any financial disclosure statements on file as of Monday, according to the Hamilton County Election Commission.
Contact Sofia Saric at ssaric@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476.