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3 City Council Seats are up for grabs by 7 people in November:

 

- Priscilla R. Tyson (Incumbent) (D)

- A. Troy Miller (Incumbent) (D)

- Eileen Paley (Incumbent) (D)

- Matthew Ferris ®

- Alicia Healy ®

- Roseann Hicks ®

- Joe Motil (I) (Write-In)

 

Anyone have any thoughts on the candidates? I'm posting up in depth interviews on CU over the next two weeks to learn more about their stances on a variety of issues.

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<b>Better Know A Candidate 2009: Alicia Healy</b>

By Walker | September 28, 2009

 

<img src="http://www.columbusunderground.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/alicia-healy-2009.jpg">

 

 

Over the course of the next two weeks, Columbus Underground will be providing you with an in depth look at each of the six candidates running for Columbus City Council this November. All six interviewees are being asked the same set of questions, most of which were submitted from Columbus Underground readers. This feature should give everyone a better understanding of where these candidates stand on a variety of important local issues, and help you to decide how to vote this coming November.

 

Our first interview is with Republican Candidate Alicia Healy. Alicia currently resides in the Driving Park neighborhood on the Near East Side, and is a first time candidate for the office of Columbus City Council.

 

READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/better-know-a-candidate-2009-alicia-healy

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<b>Better Know A Candidate 2009: A. Troy Miller</b>

By Walker | September 30, 2009 12:00pm

 

<img src="http://www.columbusunderground.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/troy-miller.jpg">

 

Our next interview is with Democrat Candidate A. Troy Miller. Troy grew up on the East Side of Columbus, currently operates his own technology company, and is running for re-election following his appointment in January.

 

READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/better-know-a-candidate-2009-a-troy-miller

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<b>Better Know A Candidate 2009: Matt Ferris</b>

By Walker | October 2, 2009

 

<img src="http://www.columbusunderground.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/matt-ferris.jpg">

 

Our next interview is with Republican Candidate Matt Ferris. Matt operates his own financial advisory firm in the Brewery District, lives in German Village, and is a first time candidate running for City Council.

 

READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/better-know-a-candidate-2009-matt-ferris

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<b>Better Know A Candidate 2009: Eileen Paley</b>

By Walker | October 5, 2009

 

<img src="http://www.columbusunderground.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/paley-2009.jpg">

 

Our next interview is with Democrat Candidate Eileen Paley. Eileen currently operates her own legal practice, and is running for re-election following her City Council appointment in January.

 

READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/better-know-a-candidate-2009-eileen-paley

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<b>Better Know A Candidate 2009: Roseann Hicks</b>

By Walker | October 7, 2009

 

<img src="http://www.columbusunderground.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/hicks-2009.jpg">

 

Our next interview is with Republican Candidate Roseann Hicks. Roseann currently manages Yogi’s Hoagies in Westerville, serves on multiple Northside commissions and associations, and is a first time candidate running for City Council.

 

READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/better-know-a-candidate-2009-roseann-hicks

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<b>Better Know A Candidate 2009: Priscilla Tyson</b>

By Walker | October 9, 2009

 

<img src="http://www.columbusunderground.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/tyson-2009.jpg">

 

Our final interview is with Democrat Candidate Priscilla Tyson. Priscilla is currently serving on City Council and chairs the Recreation and Parks Committee and the Zoning Committee, and is running for re-election.

 

READ MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/better-know-a-candidate-2009-priscilla-tyson

  • 2 weeks later...

3 City Council Seats are up for grabs by 7 people in November:

 

- Priscilla R. Tyson (Incumbent) (D)

- A. Troy Miller (Incumbent) (D)

- Eileen Paley (Incumbent) (D)

- Matthew Ferris ®

- Alicia Healy ®

- Roseann Hicks ®

- Joe Motil (I) (Write-In)

 

Anyone have any thoughts on the candidates? I'm posting up in depth interviews on CU over the next two weeks to learn more about their stances on a variety of issues.

 

Thanks for the interviews.  Personally, I'd be shocked if any of the democratic incumbents lost.

An article from the Monday Dispatch about City Council candidates pledging to serve their full four-year terms, if elected.  That's emerged as an issue because of the past history of City Council members leaving before the end of their terms.  What usually happens is the person that's appointed to fill the term, usually gets re-elected.  The Dispatch also showed this history for each City Council seat.  Both the article and the reappointment history are linked below.

 

City council candidates agree: Plan is to serve full four-year term

 

Here is the history of each seat on the Columbus City Council, dating to the last person who entered council by winning an election

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I'd be shocked if any of them stuck to that pledge. ;)

  • 2 weeks later...

Three Democrats keep seats on Columbus City Council

Wednesday,  November 4, 2009 - 3:10 AM

By Robert Vitale, The Columbus Dispatch

 

City Council Democrats declared victory last night over their Republican challengers and over conventional political wisdom as well.  Three incumbents who backed a Columbus income-tax increase that took effect less than five weeks before Election Day held on to their jobs, according to unofficial returns.

 

Democrats Priscilla R. Tyson, A. Troy Miller and Eileen Paley led a seven-candidate field with a combined 57 percent of the vote.  Republican Matt Ferris trailed Paley by fewer than 1,140 votes.  That margin was too big to trigger an automatic recount, said Matt Damschroder, assistant director of the Franklin County Board of Elections.

 

Full story at http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/11/04/copy/City_Council_election.ART_ART_11-04-09_B1_QAFIKCF.html?adsec=politics&sid=101

  • 6 years later...

City Hall faces another ethics investigation, subpoenas

Probe examines current, former Columbus council members, including Mayor Ginther, who worked for nonprofits

By Lucas Sullivan, The Columbus Dispatch

Thursday, January 7, 2016  -1:27 PM

 

The Ohio Ethics Commission has opened another investigation into allegations of wrongdoing within Columbus City Hall, a move that Democrats criticized as politically motivated and without merit.

 

One current and two former Columbus City Council members have been subpoenaed for records by the commission.  They include Mayor Andrew J. Ginther, the former council president; Councilwoman Priscilla R. Tyson and Michelle M. Mills. ... The investigation centers on the nonprofit groups that council members have worked for while serving on the council.  Those nonprofits received relatively small grants from the city over the last five years.

 

Greg Davies, Ginther’s chief of staff, said the city has opinions from the ethics commission in 2010 about elected officials working at nonprofit groups.  He said council members followed the recommendations to abstain from voting and remove themselves from conflicts of interest. ... Local Democrats called the investigation a partisan attack and a reprisal from Republicans who are upset that Democrats control Columbus City Hall.

 

They point out that three of the four commission members are Republican.  The commission is supposed to have six members, three Republicans and three Democrats.  There are two open seats that are slotted for Democrats, and those seats have been vacant for months.  Gov. John Kasich has yet to appoint anyone to fill them.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2016/01/07/Columbus-City-Hall-ethics-investigation.html

  • 6 months later...

Columbus will go to the polls tomorrow (Aug. 2) for a special vote that could change the makeup of the Columbus City Council.

 

Voters will decide on Issue 1, which proposes to change Columbus City Council from the current makeup of seven at-large members to a mix of 13 at-large and ward representatives by 2018.  If passed, City Council would have three at-large members and 10 ward-based members.

 

If the city's population changes, the number of at-large members would always remain at three - but the number of ward-based members could go up to 22, if the population increases, or down to four, if the population decreases.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/content/topic/news/2016/07/ward-vote.html

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2016/07/27/issue-1-overview-arguments-for-and-against-the.html

Voters have soundly rejected Issue 1 by a margin of 72-28.

  • 11 months later...

Since a similar proposal to this got soundly defeated at the polls last year, I'm not sure why these district recommendations are emerging again.  But FWIW, here's the latest recommendations on a potential reshape of Columbus City Council:

 


Charter Review Committee Recommends Nine-Member District-At-Large Council

By Lauren Sega, Columbus Underground

July 14, 2017 - 12:55 pm

 

The Charter Review Committee, charged last September with the task of assessing and developing a recommendation for the composition and operations of Columbus City Council, released its recommended legislation this week.

 

The committee’s District-At-Large recommendation would split Columbus into nine districts. From each one would come one council member, elected by everyone in the city, but competing only with other candidates from the same district.  Elections would continue to be nonpartisan and include an elimination primary.

 

It’s similar to a proposal knocked down by voters in a special election last August — Issue 1, which aimed to add six members to the current seven-member council, with three elected at-large and 10 elected by district.  The day voting started on the charter amendment, Columbus City Council announced its creation of the Charter Review Committee.

 

MORE: http://www.columbusunderground.com/charter-review-committee-recommends-nine-member-district-at-large-council-ls1

  • 2 weeks later...

Columbus City Council halts ballot proposal to add seats, create districts

 

Columbus voters won’t decide this year whether seats should be added to the City Council and whether seats should be divided into districts while representatives continue to be elected in citywide elections.

 

The council tabled the proposal indefinitely on Monday as it considers whether to break it into two pieces — one to expand the council, and one to set up the district system — to put before Columbus voters.  A vote had been expected Monday, but city-hall sources confirmed that the council was short of the five votes needed to place a charter change on the ballot.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/news/20170724/columbus-city-council-halts-ballot-proposal-to-add-seats-create-districts

  • 5 months later...

Hardin elected as new Columbus City Council president

 

http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180102/hardin-elected-as-new-columbus-city-council-president

 


Previous City Council President for the past two years, Zach Klein, was elected to be City Attorney in November.  Last night, the six remaining members of Columbus City Council elected councilman Shannon G. Hardin to be its next council president.  The vote was 4-2, with Hardin being chosen over councilwoman Priscilla R. Tyson, who was previously President Pro Tem.

 

According to the above linked Dispatch article, Council President is a powerful position in City Hall.  The council president determines the agenda for meetings, appoints the other members to committees and has a general say over hiring council staff. 

 

Also per the article, Hardin grew up on the City's South Side and now lives on the Near East Side.  He began working as a city employee in Mayor Coleman's office in 2009.  Hardin’s mother was Coleman’s assistant for nearly 20 years and the former mayor has been a political mentor to Hardin.  Mayor Coleman lobbied for Hardin’s appointment to City Council in 2014, and now Hardin sits in the same council president’s seat that Coleman held for three years between 1997 and 1999 before he was elected mayor.

 

At 30-years-old, Hardin is five years younger than current mayor Andrew Ginther was when he was elected council president in 2011.  The above linked Dispatch article says of this, "At the time, Ginther was the youngest council president in at least 50 years."  So its unclear if Hardin is the youngest council president ever, or just for the last 50+ years.  However, one unambiguous milestone set by Hardin is that he is the first openly gay president of Columbus City Council.

 


SHANNON HARDIN'S COUNCIL WEBPAGE:  https://www.columbus.gov/council/hardin/

 

39475456391_4c8e47cd75_n_d.jpg

The Columbus City Council appointed Emmanuel V. Remy as its seventh member on Monday.  Remy, 45, is a real estate agent, but is better known for his community activism as president of the Northland Community Council.

 

Remy replaces Zach Klein, the former council president who was elected city attorney last November, and will serve the remainder of Klein's council term which runs to the end of 2019.

 

http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180108/realtor-remy-appointed-to-columbus-council-to-replace-klein

Michael Stinziano was recently voted as new president pro tempore of Columbus City Council after Shannon Hardin voted as new Columbus City Council president.  But Stinziano might not be president pro tem after this year.  Stinziano announced he will be running for Franklin County Auditor and challenging the current incumbent:

 

http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180116/stinziano-to-run-for-franklin-county-auditor

 

http://www.columbusunderground.com/council-president-pro-tem-announces-run-for-county-auditor-ls1

  • 3 weeks later...

http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180202/ex-coleman-aide-brown-named-city-council-chief-of-staff

 

Mike Brown, who served more than a decade as an aide and spokesman for former Mayor Michael B. Coleman, is being hired as chief of staff for the Columbus City Council.

 

Council President Shannon G. Hardin, also a Coleman protege, made the hire.  Brown has worked at Experience Columbus, most recently as vice president of strategic development, since leaving City Hall in April 2010.

  • 1 month later...

Council, facing citizens lawsuit, approves ballot issue to create representation by district

By Rick Rouan, The Columbus Dispatch

Posted: March 5, 2018 at 9:30 AM

 

Columbus voters in the May primary will have a say in at least one ballot initiative that could change the future makeup of the City Council, and if a lawsuit filed Monday is successful, they will have two competing issues to consider.

 

Columbus City Council voted 5-2 on Monday to place a charter amendment on the ballot that would add two members to the seven-member council and divide those nine seats into districts — while continuing to elect members citywide.

 

At the same time, the Council is facing a lawsuit filed Monday by a citizens group, Everyday People for Positive Change, that collected signatures for its own ballot proposal to change how council is elected.  Last week, the Council shot down that plan after city attorney Zach Klein said it did not satisfy the “single-subject” provision of city law.  If the group’s lawsuit is successful, the competing initiatives both could end up on the ballot.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180305/council-facing-citizens-lawsuit-approves-ballot-issue-to-create-representation-by-district

  • 1 month later...

^ Follow up on the previous post about those two competing charter amendments that could change the future makeup of City Council:

 

https://www.columbusunderground.com/ohio-supreme-court-upholds-councils-rejection-of-proposed-charter-amendment-ls1

 

-- Issue 3: A charter amendment passed by City Council is on the upcoming May ballot.  This amendment would add two members to the seven-member council and divide those nine seats into districts - while continuing to elect all members citywide.

 

-- Issue 4: A citizens petition amendment that was rejected by City Council was also rejected by the Ohio Supreme Court and will not be on the May ballot.  This amendment was more wide-ranging, adding six spots for a total of 13 council members, requiring these new members to be elected via ward vote instead of at-large citywide vote, changing the appointment process, and capping campaign donations.  City Council voted against this proposal citing the single-subject rule for city amendments and the Ohio Supreme Court upheld this City Council action.

divide those nine seats into districts - while continuing to elect all members citywide

 

I don't understand that. What is the role of the districts?

divide those nine seats into districts - while continuing to elect all members citywide

 

I don't understand that. What is the role of the districts?

 

Each council member would live in a district - but their election would be via citywide vote.

That way people would feel like they had a local representative without causing inter-neighborhood strife like wards do.

  • 4 weeks later...

I was pretty neutral about this change honestly. On the surface it seems like a token appeasement to those who wanted districts, but in reality it doesn't mean much of anything because everyone will continue to be elected citywide

 

Also with only 9 members, each "district" will have well over 100,000 people in it by 2024 and need to encompass a pretty wide geographic area as well. So it won't be a problem for the FCDP to spread their preferred candidates around and basically keep the current status quo firmly in place even under the new format

Hopefully it will make councilmembers less anonymous at least. Anything to get people more engaged.

Columbus has sizeable to-do list for expanded, restructured council

By Rick Rouan, The Columbus Dispatch

Posted: May 12, 2018 - 6:03 PM

 

Columbus city government will undergo its most radical change in more than a century after primary election voters overwhelmingly approved a charter amendment Tuesday that expands the City Council and changes its structure.  But voters won’t notice much difference in the near future.  They won’t cast ballots for the expanded council until 2023, and those new members won’t be seated until January 2024.

 

That means every council seat will go through at least one election — in 2019 and 2021 — before the new format begins.  The charter amendment’s runway to change is far longer than those outlined during the year in proposals by citizen groups.  That was designed to give the city time to prepare and to have the most recent census counts when districts are drawn, Council President Shannon G. Hardin said.

( . . . )

Over the next five years, the city will have to iron out the details.  Each council member will come from one of nine districts but continue to be elected at large - so a board must be appointed by March 1, 2021, to draw district boundaries.  Those borders don’t have to be set until December 2022.

( . . . )

The most immediate change will be to the appointment process for vacant council seats.  Hardin said the council will make code changes later this year to align with the amendment’s requirement that the city extend its window for making appointments and to have a public hearing.  In the past, the council has conducted private interviews with finalists for council vacancies before revealing its pick when it nominates the replacement from the floor during a meeting.

 

MORE: http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180512/columbus-has-sizeable-to-do-list-for-expanded-restructured-council

I missed this news. Having council members elected at large but hail from different districts seems to be a pretty clever compromise. Kudos.

  • 1 month later...

http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180625/court-order-temporarily-blocks-columbus-gun-ordinances

 

Columbus must halt enforcement of its bump-stock ban and an ordinance that made carrying a gun while under disability a misdemeanor as a Franklin County court decides a lawsuit brought by gun rights groups.  Franklin County Common Pleas Court Judge David E. Cain granted a temporary restraining order Friday that was requested by Ohioans for Concealed Carry and the Buckeye Firearms Foundation.

 

Those two groups sued the city last week, arguing that Columbus violated state pre-emption laws by banning bump stocks, which effectively convert semiautomatic firearms to full automatic fire, and instituted a misdemeanor violation for carrying a gun while under disability.  The ordinances were part of a broad package of laws the Columbus City Council approved in May, saying they would help curb gun violence in the city:  http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180514/columbus-city-council-approves-legislation-aimed-at-curbing-gun-violence

http://www.dispatch.com/news/20180625/council-approves-anti-panhandling-law-contract-for-route-315-work

 

The Columbus City Council also approved an ordinance to deal with “aggressive” panhandling.  For more than a year, the city has been considering how to balance new laws without violating a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.  The Supreme Court decision has been used to argue that a city cannot prevent people from asking for money on a street corner while allowing people to talk about other things on that corner.

 

The ordinance that council approved on Monday bans people from approaching someone using an ATM, bars people from touching or following someone who has told them no, and outlaws transactions in the middle of the street or on freeway ramps.  Violations would be misdemeanors.

  • 5 months later...
  • 2 months later...

An update about the 2019 City Council election from https://www.dispatch.com/news/20190206/mayor-ginther-unopposed-city-school-board-chief-longtime-member-wont-run-again

Quote

 

Columbus voters also will choose four city council members this year, and a primary is still possible for that race.  Ten candidates filed petitions for the four seats on Wednesday.  If at least nine candidates have enough signatures, it will trigger a primary May 7.

 

Councilwoman Elizabeth Brown and Councilman Emmanuel Remy both submitted signatures to run as part of a slate with two placeholder candidates who likely will be replaced on the ballot by appointees selected to fill open seats on the council.  Shayla D. Favor, a former assistant city attorney, was appointed in January to replace Councilwoman Jaiza Page, who was elected to the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas.  This month, the council also will select a replacement for Councilman Michael Stinziano, who was elected Franklin County auditor.

( . . . )

Those council members, all Democrats, likely will face opposition from a faction within their own party.  Liliana Rivera Baiman, an immigrant and union organizer, Tiffany White, chairwoman of the North Central Area Commission, and Joe Motil, an outspoken critic of city officials, all are seeking the endorsement to become a slate under Yes We Can, a progressive organization within the Democratic party. ... Al Edmondson, Scott Singratsomboune and Nasandra Wright filed petitions for council seats as well.

 

No Republicans filed to run in Columbus municipal races.

 

 

  • 2 weeks later...

spacer.png

 

Columbus council approves $914-million-plus budget

 

Columbus plans to spend $914.2 million in 2019, with the majority of funds in the largest budget in city history going toward public safety.  The Columbus City Council approved the 2019 operating budget at its Monday meeting.

 

Mayor Andrew J. Ginther proposed a $912 million spending plan in November, but the city finished 2018 with about $2.2 million in carryover funding that the council can use for programs it wants to support.  More than two-thirds of the city’s budget pays for public safety. In 2019, it expects to spend $622.5 million on police, fire and other smaller divisions within the Department of Public Safety.

 

MORE:  https://www.dispatch.com/news/20190211/columbus-council-approves-914-million-plus-budget

  • 7 months later...

https://www.dispatch.com/news/20191012/eight-people-seek-four-seats-on-columbus-city-council

 

Eight candidates — seven Democrats and one independent — are vying for four open seats that will make up a majority on the Columbus City Council for the next four years:

  • Four are incumbents who are endorsed by the Franklin County Democratic Party: Shayla D. Favor, Emmanuel Remy, Elizabeth Brown and Rob Dorans.
  • Three other Democrats, Liliana Rivera Baiman, Joe Motil and Tiffany White, are running under the progressive “Yes We Can” wing.
  • Scott Singratsomboune is running as an independent.
  • 4 weeks later...

AR-191108998.jpg

Elected Columbus City Council members Rob Dorans, Shayla D. Favor, Emmanuel Remy, and Elizabeth Brown take the stage to thank the crowd at a watch party for Democratic candidates after the results are in for Columbus City Council from the 2019 General Election at The Westin Great Southern Columbus at 310 South High Street on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019.

 

https://www.dispatch.com/news/20191105/incumbents-sweep-columbus-city-council-seats

 

Final results:

Elizabeth Brown  -  63,816 (20.04%)

Shayla D. Favor   -  55,635 (17.47%)

Emmanuel Remy - 49,768 (15.63%)

Rob Dorans          - 49,068 (15.41%)

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Tiffany M. White  - 29,292  (9.20%)

Joe Motil              - 26,839   (8.43%)

Liliana Rivera Baiman - 26,608 (8.36%)

Scott Singratsomboune - 17,429 (5.47%)

  • 2 months later...

Columbus City Council found more money for the 2020 budget – here’s how it's being spent

 

Columbus City Council plans to add $5.8 million to early education, affordable housing and other equity initiatives in this year's operating budget because income tax collections exceeded projections by more than expected.

 

Members were to introduce amendments Wednesday, at the ninth public hearing on the operating budget Mayor Andrew Ginther proposed in early November, based on conservative projections of year-end receipts.  Council votes on the entire $971 million budget Monday.

 

MORE:  https://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2020/02/05/columbus-city-council-found-more-money-for-the2020.html

https://cohear.typeform.com/to/FdAv6D

 

Councilwoman Elizabeth Brown is hosting a "Policy Pitch Night" on March 31st.  You can submit your proposals using the link above.  Five residents will be chosen by March 15th.

Very Stable Genius

  • 1 year later...

Are there two threads for this topic? I thought there had been posts in this thread more recently than early 2020. Hopefully.

Edited by GCrites80s

22 minutes ago, GCrites80s said:

Are there two threads for this topic? I thought there had been posts in this thread more recently than early 2020. Hopefully.

 

I'm seeing posts going back to 2009.

Right, but is there one seldom-used thread and one busier thread? Or maybe it goes back and forth.

Just this one thread.

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