Franklin County to replace Columbus Day with Juneteenth as a paid holiday

 

Franklin County next year is moving its Columbus Day paid holiday to Juneteenth Day, joining a growing number of employers recognizing the celebration of African American freedom.

 

"African Americans are entitled to equal rights in this country they helped to build," Franklin County commissioners said in a statement. "We recognize the struggle that so many have endured and are still enduring to help us realize the dream of a more perfect union, and we stand with our residents in the ongoing fight for racial equity."

 

Commissioners and Columbus City Council also recently formally declared racism a public health crisis, underpinning policy efforts to eliminate systemic inequity in housing and other factors that influence health.

 

The June 19 holiday commemorates the day that federal soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas, to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation, signed more than two years before during the Civil War. What started as a state celebration spread as Texans migrated around the country, The Washington Post reported.

 

The country's longest-running celebration of abolition actually is in southern Ohio's Gallia County, starting Sept. 22, 1863, the one-year anniversary of the proclamation. Ohio's legislature declared Sept. 22 "Emancipation Day" in 2006.

 

More below:

https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2020/06/19/franklin-county-to-make-juneteenth-a-paid-holiday.html

 

Franklin County engineer launching antiracism initiative

 

The Franklin County Engineer’s Office is implementing a new initiative to “denounce racism in all forms” and ensure equity in contracting and its own operations.  The Antiracism & Equity Program includes a zero-tolerance policy for employees “uttering the ‘n’ word” or others who try to bar multilingual workers from talking to each other in languages other than English, regular diversity training and an increased focus on infrastructure in underrepresented communities.

 

County Engineer Cornell Robertson knows his office probably isn’t on the top of people’s minds when it comes to the ongoing public discourse on racial issues.  But he said he’s trying to make a difference.  “I still feel like there is some level of influence — some folks pay attention to what we have going on,” he said. “If some folks in our community see someone like a county engineer, who’s usually focused entirely on roads and bridges, take the time to also focus on antiracism and equity, then that may inspire them to say, ‘Maybe I can make a difference, too.'

 

Robertson has placed the new Antiracism & Equity Program on the Franklin County Commissioners’ agenda on Tuesday.  As a separate elected official, the engineer doesn’t need the panel’s approval — he said the office is already implementing the program — but the public rollout was a natural offshoot of other resolutions recently adopted by the commissioners.

 

MORE:  https://www.dispatch.com/news/20200627/franklin-county-engineer-launching-antiracism-initiative

Franklin County names new equity and inclusion, Justice Policy and Programs directors

 

Ruchelle Pride is playing a key part in Franklin County’s various initiatives to counter racism, as the new director of the board of commissioners’ Justice Policy and Programs.  She’s one of two new directors recently hired by the commissioners, a year after the elected panel became one of the first in the country to declare racism a public health crisis.

 

In addition to Pride, the commissioners this month named Damika Withers as chief economic equality and inclusion officer, a position established late last year.  Withers was most recently an assistant director in the the county’s Office on Aging, where she most recently managed adult protective services.

 

Pride has a background in juvenile criminal justice.  She formerly served as the assessment center supervisor at the Delaware County juvenile and probate courts, following a four-year stint as program manager at Franklin County’s juvenile detention facility.  Prior to that, she was a juvenile probation officer and detention security officer for Franklin County.

 

MORE:  https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2021/05/15/franklin-county-names-directors-equity-and-inclusion-justice-policy/5023858001/

Franklin County Commissioner Marilyn Brown resigns, citing family health issues

 

Franklin County Commissioner Marilyn Brown announced her resignation last Tuesday, citing family health issues. ... "I think family has to come first. My mom is 92 and in Cleveland, and I've lost a year not seeing her," she said at the end of Tuesday's commissioners meeting. "We don't have much time left. ... I can't do the position the way I want to do it and the way I feel I need to do it and take care of my family."

 

Brown, 66, was first elected Franklin County commissioner in 2006 and is about two-thirds of the way through her fourth term.  She easily won reelection in 2018 with 64% of the vote.  With her departure, Commissioners John O’Grady and Kevin Boyce will appoint an interim replacement, likely naming someone in the coming days.  By the end of June, the Franklin County Democratic Party’s Central Committee will appoint a permanent replacement to serve out Brown’s term.

 

Brown has a lengthy record of public service locally and in her native Cleveland, with a focus on fair housing, economic development and social justice. ... During her time as commissioner, she’s been involved in large-scale public construction projects and major initiatives to counter poverty and racism and reform criminal justice programming, among other issues.

 

Brown cited the establishment of the county’s Office of Justice Policy and Programs, which heads reentry, recidivism and other initiatives aimed at preventing crime, among her top accomplishments in the commissioners office.

 

MORE:  https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/2021/05/11/franklin-county-commissioner-marilyn-brown-announces-her-resignation/5034716001/

https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/2021/05/21/dawn-tyler-lee-appointed-acting-franklin-county-commissioner/5184929001/

 

A former top aide to Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther and leader in the United Way of Central Ohio was appointed an acting Franklin County commissioner late Friday afternoon.  Dawn Tyler Lee, 48, deputy chief of staff in the mayor’s office for more than five years, took the oath of office for the temporary appointment during a special session of the county commissioners.  She's the first Black woman to serve as a Franklin County commissioner.

 

Under state law, the two remaining commissioners — Kevin Boyce and John O'Grady — appointed Tyler Lee as an interim replacement to serve for up to 45 days.  The Franklin County Democratic Party’s Central Committee will name a permanent replacement next month to serve the remainder of Brown’s term, through the end of the next year.  Tyler Lee said she has no interest in pursuing the seat beyond her interim appointment.

 

The commissioner's seat will be on the primary and general election ballots in 2022.  More than a dozen people have been working to build support among local Democrats for appointment to the board of commissioners.  Among them are: Columbus City Council President Pro Tempore Elizabeth Brown, state Rep. Erica Crawley, Franklin County Clerk of Courts Maryellen O'Shaughnessy, Worthington School Board member Sam Shim and Gahanna-Jefferson School Board president Beryl Piccolantonio.

https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/2021/06/24/state-rep-crawley-picked-dems-unfinished-county-commissioner-term/5324005001/

 

State Rep. Erica Crawley beat out Columbus City Council President Pro Tem Elizabeth Brown by a 63-54 vote of the Franklin County Democratic Party Central Committee to become the next Franklin County Commissioner.  A total of 120 of 144 current Franklin County Democratic Party Central Committee members were present for the voting Thursday.  The winning candidate needed 61 votes, or 50% plus one.

 

Crawley will take the place of Dawn Tyler Lee, who was appointed by the other two Commissioners John O’Grady and Kevin Boyce on an interim basis following the resignation last month of Commissioner Marilyn Brown.  Tyler Lee said she was not interested in pursuing the seat beyond her interim appointment.

 

Crawley will resign her Statehouse seat to serve the final 18 months of Marilyn Brown’s term and will have to run in next year’s primary and general election for a new four-year term.