City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you. Thank you. ¶¶ Thank you.

Please stand for the playing of the National Anthem.

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Councilmember Green, would you lead us in the pledge? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. This evening, council is grateful to have Bishop Geist from New Fellowship Baptist Church here to pray with us. Bishop, welcome back to council, and thank you so much for being with us this evening.

Good evening, everyone. Good evening. I appreciate this opportunity to come to all civil leaders in the city council. Let us pray. To our Lord, our God, and our Creator, we bow our heads today in gratitude for the privilege of gathering in this chamber today. We give thanks for the rich blessings you have given to our community, for the strength of our neighborhoods, the dedication of our workforce, and the diversity of people who call this city their home. As the city council begins to work, we ask, Lord, that you pour out your wisdom, your discernment, and your guidance upon these elected leaders. Because the responsibility that they bear is very heavy. And the decisions that they make will shape the lives of these residents. Grant them, Lord, the clarity of mind to weigh issues. Give them the patience to listen to one another. In a time when voices can be fractured and divided, we pray that this chamber remains a sanctuary of respect and constructive dialogue. Oh God, help us to set aside personal grievances but focus on the common good. Guide us, oh Lord, with love and compassion. And finally, may the deliberations of this meeting be anchored in a spirit of unity and steadfast and commitment to truth. And let the work that is part of this great city. Lord, we ask that you allow the legacy of peace and unity. These things we ask. Amen.

Amen. Thank you so much, Bishop. Clerk, please call the roll.

Bankston, Barroso de Padilla, de Acara, Dorns, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitsch, President Hardin. Any person who takes any action to obstruct or interfere with the conduct of tonight's meeting may be charged with disturbing and lawful meeting pursuant to Columbus City Code 2317.12. Any person who enters those areas of city council chambers reserved for city officials or invited guests may be charged with criminal trespass pursuant to Columbus City Code 2311.21.

Can I get a motion to spend for the reading of the journal? Clerk, please call the roll.

Bankston, Barroso de Padilla, de Alcarra, Dorrance, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitsch, President Hardin.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Are there any additions to the journal? Hearing none, this week's communications received by the city clerk's office are listed on the agenda and will be published in the city bulletin. Are there any other communications to be read into the record?

Not at this time.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. We'll go around the dais for resolutions and announcements by my colleague, Sergeant Councilman Bankston.

Thank you, Council President. I have one resolution and one announcement this evening. really excited about this resolution. And as I read it, I'm going to have Deontay Johnson, owner and operator of Soul Classics, to come up to the podium as I introduce Resolution 0135X-2026 to recognize Soul Classics on its 20th anniversary. Established in 2006, Soul Classics has grown into a nationally recognized sneaker boutique and cultural institution in downtown Columbus, rooted in community creativity and entrepreneurship thanks to the tireless work and passion of the soul classics team led by dionte soul classics has helped elevate columbus as a destination for sneaker culture and independent retail excellence while demonstrating the power of black owned businesses to inspire economic growth and cultural connection anyone with any experience owning managing or supporting small businesses knows how hard it is for a small business to make it past year three, let alone be in business for 20 years. So I am so proud of this homegrown black owned business for reaching this incredible milestone. Deontay is here with us tonight, the man, the myth and the legend. I'm gonna let him turn the microphone over to him before I pass this resolution. Deontay. Yep, it's on. You can bring up your crew now if they want to come.

By all means, staff please, family, friends. It's about half of everybody in the back. I don't take this lightly. Twenty years here in Columbus, Ohio is a point of pride. I'm excited for, you know, what's to come, but also super proud of what's been accomplished thus far. And it wouldn't have been accomplished without my beautiful wife, Jessica, my family, my mother, and all these different people, staff, and friends and support group. So with all of us, that's how we've gotten to 20, and prayerfully we'll keep going from here. Thank you.

Well, I just want to say thank you, Deontay. I was there recently. We had the chance to have a conversation. I know there's a celebration. You want to talk to us about what's going to be happening? this Saturday at Soul Classics to celebrate 20 years? Yes.

This weekend, we are actually celebrating 20 years of business. It starts on Thursday. We're partnering with the Short North Run Club and Columbus Running Company to start off with a run. We still run High Street is the name of it. Then on Friday, Saturday, we have a plethora of activities starting with a workout with Hope Fitness, which is another black-owned small business here in the city. They do fitness. We're going to be doing that with the teens. Followed by, we are doing a proclamation at the shop, I believe at 10 a.m., and then we have a plethora of performances leading into an evening event. And then on Sunday, we finalize it with Street Rarefully, which is an endeavor that we began as well. So it should be a whole weekend of activities and Hopefully could see some of you there, but if not, we're going to feel you in spirit. So thank you.

Yeah, hopefully you get to go out and support. And when you go there, make sure you buy some shoes, okay? Because we've got a kid, Deontay, in business for another 20 years. So make sure you go buy some shoes. I'm not going to be running. President Pro Tem Dorans is our runner on council, so he'll run for the rest of us. But I just want to say congratulations on this honor. WHEN I THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ACCOMPLISH, WHEN WE THINK ABOUT WHAT IS THE ECONOMIC ENGINE AND REALLY THE HEART OF THE CITY IN THE SHORT NORTH, YOU WERE A CATALYST THERE, A PIONEER WHO SAW SOMETHING THAT NO ONE ELSE SAW, WHO LAID DOWN ROOTS AND SAID THAT WE ARE GOING TO BE HERE TO NOT JUST SIMPLY REPRESENT 614 AND WHERE THE CITY IS GOING BUT REPRESENT THE CULTURE AND SHOW THAT BLACK BUSINESSES CAN DO THIS WITH EXCELLENCE AND THEY CAN DO IT IN THE HEART OF OUR CITY. SO THANK YOU SO MUCH. Now Soul Classics has expanded. They are in Los Angeles. Yep, in Los Angeles. In Los Angeles. I wanted to make sure because, you know, I don't want to get it wrong now. They've got different factions over there, so I ain't trying to, you know, step on everybody's toes. But, yes, Los Angeles, they are right by the forum where the mighty Lakers play. We ain't make it to the playoffs this year, but we will make it back. But, again, just wanted to say because when you think about the stats, over just a little under 30% of businesses closed their doors within the first year. And then another 60% don't make it past year five. And so for you to be not only thriving, but expanding is a testament to your leadership and your vision, but also the team and the support that you have around you. So thank you so much for what you do, because it's not just about the product that you sell, but it is about the lives that you impact, the people that you employ, the kids that you have sent to school, the roots that you put over people's heads. That is really what we are celebrating today. And so I'm looking forward to celebrating 20 more years. Before I pass for resolution, any of my colleagues have any comments?

First, what high school did you go to, Deontay?

Eastmore.

Oh, okay. I just wanted to make sure we were all clear on that.

The pastor just said unity when he was praying.

Every time there's an East High School student, somebody up here, I'm just saying the Warriors.

Yes. We still run the city.

So I, you know, it's funny in the most Columbus, you know, we talk about being Columbus kids. And it's interesting because we have a very good mutual friend, Gian Allen, who went to, worked at Nike. And I know that y'all work together and I know he was a mentor of yours. And I think that when we talk about greatness and we talk about the talent that we produce in the city, you've also helped to put Columbus on the map, especially when we talk about not just sneaker culture, but just when we talk about culture and when we talk about fashion, you have been integral in that. And so I think also I just want to say thank you for the many opportunities that you give. You know, my nephew did the Fashion Council's summer program and was deeply impacted by, you know, being in your shop and hearing your story. And I think, you know, we always talk about our kids need to see us to be us. And so, you know, whether you went to Eastmore, East or even COS. Not even COS.

Yeah.

It's, they need to, I think them seeing how we can not just start something here but grow it. You know, what that looks like and that there is something for every young person, right? Whatever speaks to their passion. I see one of our graduates from the Fashion Council who's here. I think when we grow that passion and they can see themselves and they can see that they can make, they can do their art, they can do their passion and take care of their people. And then the second thing I want to just give a shout out to your family because I think I say this all the time. My dad had a store and was a small business owner and I give my dad all the kudos and he couldn't have done it without my mom. Like he could not have done it if my mom did not give him the space to do that, if she did not pour into him, if, you know, my whole family. I mean, it was my after school program, my summer camp, my everything else. And so I just also want to give a shout out to families because we can't do this alone. And, you know, when you're an entrepreneur, it takes that support from, not just your family, but from your village in order to be there. And so I just also wanted to acknowledge that. And anytime we have babies here, because I see your babies out with you in the community a lot to give them that opportunity into that exposure, they're going to know no different than this greatness. So congratulations.

I want to say, because I know there's probably many more people who want to give you kudos and understanding that you went to Eastmore, what college did you go to? D. Okay, D, absolutely. And so having been with you in undergrad and kind of just seeing how you grew, I think more than what Council Member Bankston so eloquently stated, I think I would argue that part of the reason why you lasted is because you continued to put community first. And I'll give one succinct example. When we were dealing with the strife in our community and the outcry from George Floyd, you were one of the first businesses that stepped up and said, we are going to build community through this struggle. And you have for years always put community first. It was never, to me, it never felt like it was about the profit. It always felt like it was about the people. And so I thank you for continuing to put your heart and continuing to put community first And as a District 7 business, I'll see you this weekend.

All right. If there's no other... You can call for it.

Go ahead. No, DeHante, I'm proud of you. Two things that both... One, thank you, Councilman Bankston, for bringing this forward. One of the things that I think that Columbus struggles with is acknowledging our profits that are here. Other communities celebrate theirs who put on and who are literally building culture. I think it's because we're such a humble town. It's hard for us to lift up those great, great folks who are shining right amongst us. You are one of those people. I'm so grateful that we get the opportunity to lift you up right now. What you are doing to build out culture, but also to build out business, to make this Short North a place that is truly welcoming for all is amazing. I was in the Short North a couple months ago and I was like, why is there a two block line It was because I had a shoe release. Literally, two block line. People had slept outside to come to your business. That is amazing. Thank you, brother, for putting on. We need to continue to lift up profits like yourself in our own land and not just pull in folks from other places. But you are one of those people that we have to continue to celebrate. Thank you.

And I will tell you, Council President, I can't afford the shoes that they were sitting in this line for. But, no, again, Deontay, I want to, again, say congratulations. And if you are on the Soul Classics team, everybody's part of the Soul Classics team, but if you work at Soul Classics, can you just raise your hand so we can just acknowledge you? Because, again, it is about the team. All right. Well, thank you all so much. And again, with that, again, if you want to celebrate, we'll see you this weekend to celebrate the 20th year anniversary. And we're looking forward to 20 more years of business growth and success. And with that, Council President, I will move for adoption.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Bankston, Barroso de Padilla, de Acara, Dorrance, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitsch, President Hardin. Adopted.

And just one announcement, Council President. Next, I just wanted to take a personal privilege to acknowledge the retirement of a valuable team member from our Department of Technology, Ms. Sharae Ilhami. Courtesy of Director Orth, I would like to just share a little bit about her story. You know, many times we celebrate in this chamber folks who get to retire. Most of the folks that are sitting before us are directors, are deputy directors, that are the most visible. But again, when we think about public service, it's really the other thousands of employees that are behind the scenes that really power our city. Ms. Sharae and her husband, Jay, came to the United States following the fall of the Shah of Iran. Part of her family fled to Sweden while Sharae, Jay, and their infant daughter, Talia, came to America with little more than the clothes on their backs and whatever money they had in their pockets. Like so many who come here seeking opportunity and freedom, they found a way to build a life. Sharae attended the National University of Iran and graduated in 1982. After arriving in the United States, she continued her education at The Ohio State University, earning her Master's of Science in City and Regional Planning in 1989. She began her public service career in 1994 as the GIS Director for the Delaware County Auditor's Office and joined the City of Columbus in 2013 as the Citywide GIS Manager. In 2018, the city created an entire new division within DOT for her to lead, consolidating the city's data management functions under the organization she built from the ground up. Among her many accomplishments was standing up the city's enterprise data management platform, TALED. This engine that enables data movement and integration across critical city systems, financial systems, payroll, 311, and countless other operational platforms depend on the foundation that this woman created. She also helped establish the city's first enterprise data analytics and visualization capabilities, fundamentally changing how departments use information to make decisions and serve our residents, and also how we even display that data. At the center of all of it was her unwavering commitment to helping departments use data in a meaningful and transformative way. And she did so with unmatched enthusiasm, kindness, and genuine spirit of service. Beyond her work here, Sheree also founded URISA's GIS Corps, part of the nonprofit urban and regional information systems association, which provides geographic information systems and mapping services to developing countries around the world. Sheree's story is one of resilience, service, and leadership, and should remind all of us of the foundation of what this country should represent. Sheree was unable to join us this evening, but I've been told that she is watching live, so I just want to say to her, Sheree, thank you, thank you, thank you for everything that you have done to take this city to the next level. We appreciate all of the work that you have done and wish you well in retirement. We will also make sure that we get a resolution to her as well. Director Orth, is there anything else that you wanted to add to Sheree and her service?

Good evening, President Hardin, President Pro Tem Dorrance, Chair Baxsons, members of council. As you all know, I've been in the IT industry for 44 years, 29 in government. I can honestly say that Shrey Alhami is one of the hardest working, most capable and dedicated IT leaders I've ever had the privilege to work with. Her passion for using data to help others and to help serve the citizens of Columbus, in a word, is outstanding. While we will miss her greatly, she has developed just an incredible team of outstanding people that will continue her passion to serve going forward, and we wish her well in her retirement.

And thank you, Director, for your leadership and bringing this to our attention so we lift up these types of individuals again. when we talk about public service, it's not just the folks that sit on this dais or the elected leaders that you see, but it is countless folks behind the scenes that are working to improve how the city operates, but more importantly, improve the lives of our residents. So again, Sheree, we thank you for your service. And with that, Council President, that concludes my announcements and this evening.

Thank you so much, Council Member Bankstein. Council Member Brosadilla-Padilla.

Thanks, Council President. I just have two announcements. So first, I'm pretty sure this weekend concludes all of our graduations around the city of Columbus. So if we could all just collectively give a big round of applause to all of our young people. We had kindergarten graduations. We had eighth grade graduations. And I think all of our high schoolers, including mine, graduated. So to all of the graduates, congratulations. Y'all did it. Make good choices. This should be a fun summer. I hope you're working hard. I think we still have some openings here at the City of Columbus. So please be sure to look into those. And to all the parents, I feel you. We're all deep in our feelings. Congratulations because it definitely takes a village to get those kids across the stage. So whatever facet of life you are in, congratulations to all. Second of all, this morning I had the opportunity to share in the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Parsons Avenue Library. So I want to be clear. The library has actually been there for 98 years in some form. But in this current building, they just turned double digits. And so I had the opportunity to go out and to celebrate in the border of our shared district, Council Member Ross, between 7 and 8. Not six, seven. But I also want to just announce that today is the kickoff for the summer reading program for the Columbus Library. So the goal is for folks to read 15 minutes a day for the next 25 days. So it starts today. It runs through July 31st. And participants can earn prizes. They get raffle entries for every five days of reading. So you can sign up both online or go into your local library and sign up. And very exciting for all y'all OGs like me, if you ever want a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut, if you read X number of books, I see some folks shaking their heads. The pizza program's back, but it's actually Mikey's late night slice that you, ooh, there's audible oohs and ahs. So the program is both for adults and for kids. It's just to get folks out reading. So go take someone you love, go take people you love, go to the library, sign up or get online and sign up. Go visit our libraries. They are, I am a big passionate lover of the library. I think it is the best place in our community for folks to come together. It gives folks both shelter and knowledge and it expands the world for people. And so make sure this summer to go visit your library because they definitely at this time need our support and need people showing up for them. And a shout out to all of our library staff. So that's all for me, Council President.

Thank you, council member customer deck update.

Thank you. Council president. I just want to take a moment to thank all the city staff and Linden community partners who made our second annual Memorial day service, a meaningful and memorable event. Nearly 200 residents took time out of their holiday to come together in Linden park and honor the lives and legacies of the brave men and women who died in service to our country. Especially poignant was the touching tribute to Columbus's own Master Sergeant Tyler Simmons by General John C. Harris and Lieutenant Colonel Jennifer Green. And I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to Tyler's family who came from multiple states to pay their respects. Tyler's name has now been added permanently to the Linden War Memorial, and I want to thank Hannah Reed and the Department of Development for making that happen. To the departments of neighborhoods, staff members, Delina and Bruce and Derek, my staff members, Jacob and Marwa, our community engagement staff members, Joseline and Kaylin, and all of our Linden speakers and pastors and the Fort Hayes Junior ROTC, thank you for making Columbus proud this Memorial Day. That's all from me, Council President.

Good job on that, and thank you again to the administration. It was a beautiful, beautiful, beautiful event. Well done.

I think, Council President, I just have one resolution and one announcement. I want to invite Nicole Bergman and the rest of the folks from the Junior League up to the podium. Nicole serves as the Vice President of Fund and Partnership Development as I introduce our resolution number 013X-2026 to honor and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Junior League of Columbus' stewardship of the Kelton House Museum and Garden. For 50 years, the Junior League of Columbus has provided leadership, volunteer service, advocacy, and financial support to sustain and enhance the Kelton House Museum and Garden, welcoming thousands of visitors annually and offering meaningful education programming for students, families, and community members. Currently, the museum and house is closed. As many folks heard, there was a big gas explosion a number of months ago. But I appreciate everything that they're doing, because in Columbus, when we talk about celebrating our own history and preserving our own history, all too often we've lost so much of that history in our city. And this is a beautiful example of an organization that has really decided to make their mission, in part, to preserve a beautiful piece of history here in Columbus, and been doing so for literally decades. So I'd love to turn the mic over to Nicole.

Hi, everyone. I'm Christina Ellis. I'm the president of Junior League of Columbus. I have many women here with me that are also Junior League of Columbus members. At its core, Junior League of Columbus is we're here to develop women to do a world of good. In 1976, women gathered and said and made a decision to take on the Kelton House and turn it into a museum. So they spent three years doing wallpaper, changing the gardens, to show what an average family would be doing in 1852 when the house was built. We have been able to be part of that Kelton family story for 50 years. In 2000, it became a documented stop on the Underground Railroad, which is very, just something we treasure. We are only custodians of these stories, but it is such an honor to continue and to be able to share the Kelton family stories here in Columbus. As you know, there was a devastating fire But I think it just becomes part of our story and we're hoping to really find out what comes next. But we've been really leaning into how we are all part of that story.

Any other comments from anyone else? Any comments from my colleagues? Well, again, thank you all for dedicating, you know, part of the mission of the General League to, again, preserving something that is so vital towards, you know, sort of the history of Columbus. And, again, all too often we watch these kinds of houses and places not have that level of someone deciding to make it their mission to make sure that part of that neighborhood is preserved. So thank you for what you do. With that, I move for adoption.

Again.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Bankston, Barrosa, de Padilla, de O'Connor, Dorrance, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitsch, President Hardin.

Adopt it.

Thank you. I do have one announcement. I did want to announce that I want to invite folks to our next hearing of the Columbus City Schools and Columbus City Council Joint Committee, which Council President and I are very excited to be hosting here on June 15th in City Hall at 530. This will be the first meeting of that joint committee. The committee is being led by both Council and the Columbus City School Board, and we'll be hearing a presentation outlining all the ways that the city and the school board interact financially and from a programmatic perspective. Additionally, we'll have presenters from the Community Learning Center Institute from our neighbors down in Cincinnati to present on their Community Learning Center model. Some of us took a trip down to Cincinnati about a month or so ago and got to see firsthand results of how that is making an incredible impact, not only for kids literally in those buildings in Cincinnati, but for the surrounding neighborhoods, which was really exciting to learn about. The hearing will be live-streamed on YouTube and Facebook as normal. We'll be accepting speaker slips until 3 o'clock on the day of the hearing. So if you're interested in testifying, please email my aide, Annie McDonald, and that's at abmcdonald at columbus.gov to sign up to speak. Council President, I don't know if you want to mention anything on that hearing or not.

No, we're excited about this opportunity to recommit ourselves to a closer relationship with Columbus City Schools. all public education are under more challenging times than they've been, I think, in our state's history. And so just this close relationship that we're building is something I'm really excited about.

The future of this city is directly linked to the future of our kids. And this committee, I think, is an actualization of the body, taking that very meaningful work up. And with that, that's all I have at this time. Thanks.

Thank you, Press Pro Temp. Council Member Green. Thank you. Council Member Remy. Council Member Ross.

Just two quick announcements today, Council President. One is my office will be having its next community working hours. It is going to be on tomorrow from 5.15 to 7.15 p.m. at Milo's, 401 West Town Street, Columbus, Ohio, 43215. This is an opportunity just to casually engage. Those of you who work remotely and have an opportunity to come out or if you've already gotten off of work and want to come out, say hi. It's literally just office hours out in the community. So we'll be glad to meet you at Milo's tomorrow evening, 515 to 715 p.m. The Kingdom Image Arts presents The Future of Art is Female, a lunch and learn celebrating women shaping culture through art, storytelling, leadership, and innovation. Featuring eight dynamic creatives across music, fashion, visual art, dance, theater, and entrepreneurship, the event creates space for inspiring conversation, mentorship, meaningful community connection guided by Kingdom Image Arts vision, art speaks future where imagination meets tomorrow. The experience highlights the power of creativity to impact the next generation and is on Wednesday. June 3rd, 2026, 1130 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. I do have the honor of moderating that panel. We'd love to see you there on June 3rd. And that is it for me, Council President.

Thank you, Council Member. Council Member Wyche.

Thank you, Council President. Just one quick announcement. I'm excited to share that our next Public Utilities and Sustainability Committee hearing will take place Wednesday, June 3rd, at 3.30 here in Council Chambers. It will include a presentation from Columbus Water and Power on water utilization and its low-income and senior discount program. If you'd like to provide testimony at this hearing, you can email my aide, Chelsea Goulterman, at clgolterman at columbus.gov by noon tomorrow. Of course, the hearing will be streamed live on the City Council YouTube channel as well as the Facebook page. Is that for me?

Thank you, Councilmember. I want to start by acknowledging the passing of Peter Nelson Cass. Folks around City Hall used to know him as Pete Cass, and we extend our condolences to his family and friends. Pete dedicated nearly four decades of service to Columbus City Council and played an instrumental role in formulating the development models of the Short North, the establishment of public funding for the nationwide arena area, multiple neighborhood infrastructure programs, airport regionalization, and social service funding and support. Over the years, Peter demonstrated intellect, leadership, and a commitment to public service, and he leaves a lasting impact on the city and those who worked alongside him. So on behalf of this council, but this city, we thank him for his service, his sacrifice that he made for nearly four decades working in this building. So thank you to PCAST. I next want to bring up Kent Skerritt from the Ohio Municipal League. Tonight I'm presenting Resolution 0133X-2026, which is to oppose a total elimination of property tax in Ohio. And I want to begin by acknowledging a reality that many Ohioans, especially our seniors, are facing higher property taxes, and it's becoming a real concern to people's ability to live and thrive and stay in Columbus, especially if you're in Ohio, especially if you're on a fixed income Those concerns are real and they deserve thoughtful and serious attention from our policy makers. But the conversation that is happening at the state level is unserious. It goes far outside of how we would actually take care of our seniors, how we would keep libraries open, how we would support folks with disabilities. Throwing up a pie in the sky idea without having the larger conversation around how we actually take care of the folks who are in need most like I said, is unserious. And so Kent Skerritt is with Ohio Municipal League, works with municipalities throughout the state of Ohio and advocating on what's on our behalf at the state level and obviously at the national level. Kent, thank you so much for your advocacy, for your leadership, for keeping cities, city councils and cities abreast of what is happening at the statehouse and throughout the state on this issue. And I would like to turn the floor over to you.

Well, thank you very much, Council President Hardin, and thank you very much, Council, for having me this evening. My name is Ken Skerritt. I'm the Executive Director of the Ohio Municipal League. There's a lot of things happening right now in the space of property tax reform, property tax challenges, both statewide and in our communities. One of the really significant threat that is happening right now is an effort that is being led by a couple of grassroots organizations, primarily in Northeast Ohio, that would repeal the whole of the property tax system. which would be $24 billion of dollars gone from our communities, from our state, and as a vital resource. And just to put it in context, the property tax of $24 billion is more than the income tax, the state income tax, and the state sales tax combined. It would bankrupt our communities in a number of ways, and especially our schools. AND TWO-THIRDS OF OUR LOCAL REVENUES ARE GENERATED BY THE PROPERTY TAX. THE OHIO MUNICIPAL LEAGUE IS PART OF A COALITION, A BROADBAND STATEWIDE COALITION NAMED OHIO WINS TO PROTECT PUBLIC SERVICES AND THE WEBSITE IS PROTECT PUBLIC SERVICES.ORG. It's a statewide correlation of over 65 organizations, including representatives from police and fire, EMS, educators, caregivers for seniors, children, and those with disabilities. health care providers, libraries, parks, our business and labor leaders, local elected officials, Democrats, Republicans. It's a nonpartisan, bipartisan coalition of those that are very concerned about what the realized impacts would be if $24 billion were all of a sudden taken away from funding our local government services. Just to give you a quick brief snapshot of what a repeal would look like and what some of the consequences would be, First and foremost, for our municipalities, it would be longer response times for calls for assistance due to the projected elimination of 32,000 of our first responders statewide. It would also significantly cripple the ability of our schools to provide an education and to fund their services through the cuts of $13 billion would be realized with a projected 50,000 teachers laid off statewide. Of course, this would really significantly challenge the success of our students for future educational opportunities and in the job market. It would be less support for our seniors that the President rightly mentioned. Our 2.8 million seniors in Ohio, through less funding for home delivery of meals, in-home care and personal assistance, transportation and adult day services, the elimination of care coordination and wellness and social programs, senior citizen closures or reduction in services, the diminished ability to investigate cases of abuse or neglect, which are all senior programs that would be severely challenged. Seventy-four of the 88 counties in Ohio fully fund these through property tax revenues. So, of course, if the property tax revenues are gone, it would be very difficult to fund those services. The groups that are proposing the full repeal have not come up with a alternative plan or another way to fund to make up $24 billion. There's been projections by the state budget of office and management that some counties could see an income tax increase to 27%. I'm sorry, a sales tax increase to 27% because the property tax would be gone or an increase in the income tax locally to 15 to 18%. And you can imagine what that would mean to the state's competitiveness going forward, the investments we're making into our future. And this is a real challenge. So I greatly appreciate the president and the conversation I've had with him recognizing this significant challenge. And it's the goal of the coalition to educate members of the community about what they would be voting for. If this is something you support, this is the challenges that it would bring. So the group has until July 1st to present to the Secretary of State 410,000 good signatures from 44 counties. They're well on their way to getting that. We're not sure if they're going to make that benchmark. We won't know until July 1st when they've turned in the signatures or if they've turned in the signatures. If they don't turn in the signatures, those signatures that they've already corrected, They turn them as evergreen. They'll continue to be viable so that there could be an effort next year to reach that 410,000 to put it on the ballot. And we know from polling that if it is on the ballot right now without an education process like the coalition is undertaking, to educate the members and our residents about what this repeal would mean, it would pass by 67%. So there's a real concern that we need to inform our voters about what this really means. Nobody likes taxes, but the things that we generate that stabilizes and makes our community strong are dependent on those revenues. So thank you, Mr. President and members of council for your attention to this very important matter. And I'd be happy to answer your question.

And Ken, the one point that I want to make is that we have a choice every time a levy is on the ballot to vote it up or down. But to take away the tool of how we take care of the least of these, the option to support children with disabilities, the option to support schools, the option to support our seniors without having any solution,

that is why this is an important conversation and if it is if it does move forward why it would be so important for all of us to be a part of that conversation do you have um first of all thank you for being here but do you have data that has shown if there's been other cities communities and municipalities that have done something similar to this what has been the outcome

Mr. President and Madam Councilperson, there has not been a statewide effort to repeal the property tax. The legislature has been kind of nibbling around the edges to address the problem or the challenges that these increase, these spikes in property taxes are bringing, especially to marginalized and a lot of different communities that can't handle these tax increases. There has never been a community that I'm aware of that has outright stopped collecting property taxes because of the value that it has in the supporting of the community. I could tell you that other states are looking at modifying the property tax but not eliminating it outright.

I can speak to that. I'm originally from California, and in circa 1980, the Jarvis Amendment froze property taxes, and it was catastrophic for the state. We went from having some of the best public schools in the nation to the worst, and that never got fixed. The impact on local governments, again, devastating. And it was one of those things when the taxpayers voted for it, you know, they looked at it and go, oh, great, my property taxes will stay the same. Nothing gets raised until you sell the property. And they thought that was a really great idea. And then they suffered the consequences of it. So at least look at if freezing property taxes is catastrophic. Take a look at what happened in California before deciding you want to eliminate them entirely. Yes, ma'am.

Thank you so much. And like I said, this may or may not be a larger conversation that we have as a community, but we wanted to bring this before the city just to know that we need to educate ourselves, fully educate ourselves on this potential issue.

Yes, sir.

Thank you so much. With that, I move for passage of Resolute. No, not on this one. On Speaker 0133X-2026. Please call the roll. And I hate that we have gone an hour into this meeting without saying happy pride. Happy pride, Columbus. We are so excited that we get to celebrate. Oh, thank you. I'm so excited we get to celebrate this evening. As part of that celebration, every year we do this resolution to celebrate Pride in the City of Columbus. So I'm going to ask Leo Rodriguez, representing Stonewall Columbus, to come forward. Tonight I'm bringing forward Resolution 0134X-2026. It's to celebrate the 2026 Pride Month and the annual Pride Festival in March until we are all free is the theme. Today marks the beginning of Pride Month and later this evening, We'll gather outside City Hall for our annual Pride Illumination and the Shelleberger Illuminator Awards ceremony. I strongly encourage everyone to join us following tonight's meeting as we celebrate community. Recognize this year's honoree, which is Jose Rodriguez from right here at City Hall. As we celebrate, we also recognize Pride's roots. Pride began as a movement for visibility, dignity, and equal rights. The 1969 Stonewall uprising in New York City became a defining moment in the fight for LGBTQ equality and helped inspire generations of advocacy and progress. June is observed as Pride Month in honor of that legacy. This year, Stonewall Columbus's Pride theme is Until We Are All Free, a reminder that the work of building a more inclusive and equitable society still continues. It calls on all of us to stand together, on safety, on rights, and the dignity of LGBTQ individuals to ensure Columbus remains a city where everyone feels they belong and they have opportunity to thrive. With that, I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Rodriguez, and then we'll go around the dais if someone has comments.

Thank you. Good evening, everyone. Happy Pride. Council President Hardin, members of City Council, like I said, happy Pride Month. My name is Leo Rodriguez, and I'm here serving on behalf of Stonewall Columbus. So thank you for the opportunity to speak today. First, I want to thank you all for your commitment to making Columbus a vibrant city where every resident is celebrated and valued. That is not the norm across the nation. It is important that we state that here. Pride Month is a time where we celebrate and honor the incredible journey of the LGBTQ plus community. Here in Columbus, we have a history of building events that center community by being volunteer-led and accessible to all of our neighbors. This is the story of Columbus Pride. More than four decades ago, fewer than 200 people marched through downtown Columbus to demand the recognition of their civil and human rights. Today, Columbus Pride is one of the largest Pride events in the nation, drawing close to 750,000 people over the weekend and generating about $7.5 million for our region and economic impact. This growth has only been achieved because for decades, the leadership of this city has decided that supporting and investing in all of its residents means supporting all the different identities that make up our region. In times like this, where we feel so divided as if we are reading from different chapters, Pride is the opportunity to convene and experience one of the most revolutionary acts we can do, our collective joy. For many people, it's the one time a year they can access life-affirming services, often for free or low cost. For small businesses and community organizations, it gives them the best ability to connect and engage with a wider audience. Now the path ahead is long and tumultuous. The LGBTQ plus community is facing escalating attacks at the federal and state level. There is indeed a lot to be done, but the everyday work of building a stronger future requires for us to stand shoulder to shoulder in true partnership. Columbus is the city on the rise. The story of our growth is one about the decisions we have made to make sure we leave a better city than the one we found. And your continued advocacy is one of those decisions that marks the difference between some of us and all of us. On behalf of Stonewall Columbus, thank you for this resolution, and I look forward to celebrating together as we illuminate City Hall tonight. Thank you. I can answer any questions or comments if there are any.

Thank you, Leah. We are so excited. We know that the work of this year's Pride Festival in March started yesterday. the day after last year's Pride Festival in March. But we are thinking about you as you plan to host 700,000 of our friends in downtown Columbus in a couple weeks. I think it is moving into the largest thing that we do in the city of Columbus. And for that, we are just really grateful. I think you are literally shaping how folks think of our city and how we think of ourselves as inclusive. So we are excited to kick that off tonight. Council Member President Padilla.

I was just going to say, can you remind folks of the dates of pride this month and what they can expect?

I'm sorry.

Can you remind folks about the dates of the pride parade and what to expect?

We have our pride festival and resource fair, June 19th and 20th at Goodale park on June 19th. It goes from 4 PM to 10 PM. And on June 20th, it goes from 11 to 8 PM and our pride March, which is over 1.9 miles across Columbus downtown. is on June 20th with the step-off at 10.30 a.m. Thank you all. That's awesome.

I can't wait, happy Pride.

We'll be there. Happy Pride.

Felicidades.

Thank you. All right, thank you so much. Before we pass the resolution, and I'll bring it to you, I'm gonna bring up, we have a speaker on this resolution. This is Kayden Asifa. You have three minutes. Yeah.

Well, this is just disgusting and disgraceful. Mr. Keaton DeSuffo, 139 North Market Street, Mount Sterling, Ohio, resident also here in Franklin County. Pride Month should be not of the rainbow flag, but of one flag only. And that flag is standing right behind Councilmember Adeakar. The American flag. The American flag has been through wars, campaigns, and it's served all of us through this country. It is distinguished through the Revolutionary War, through the World Wars, World War I and World War II, and I can speak on behalf of my friends, business colleagues, and everybody whose families served in the military. They are disgusted. They are disgusted that Columbus has a Pride Month where it should be on this flag right here because of law enforcement, because of veterans, those who died in our service force for this nation's sake. And as someone of a grandson of a military veteran, I'm disgusted. Disgusted and disgraced by this. You know, I feel ashamed that Columbus has this Pride Month, and I'm being honest. And if I wasn't honest, I'd be a dead man. But you know what, that's just my opinion and my constitutional rights. But the bottom line is council members and council president Hardin, a long constituent of Wes Wexner, let me just say that, guilty as charged, that this flag should be the only one, and the flag on the brim of my hat, red, white, and blue are the only colors, should be represented through June and July. It is America's 250th birthday. 250 years of a great country, of the greatest leaders, and the greatest military in all the world. Why are we a superpower in this world, on this planet? Because we are of the great leaders and those who shaped our nation from the founding fathers to the current administration. And I can say on behalf of those who support the current administration, and not even the current administration, but those previous, that this is just one thing that needs to be changed immediately. Because why? Why are we even celebrating this? I mean, I'm speaking on behalf of everybody who's not here tonight. And I'm speaking on behalf of my colleagues of my party. So I want this changed. And I say this, this is disgusting, disgraceful, and this dishonors our nation completely. Thank you. God bless.

Well, sir, I think that that flag is exactly why we get to celebrate Pride Month here. And I think that those comments that you just gave shows why we need to celebrate pride here in the city of Columbus. So thank you so much for being here. Leo, if you'd like to come and get your resolution. I move for passage of Resolution 0134X, Session 126. Second. Clerk, please call the roll.

Bankston, Boros de Padilla, de Acara, Dorrance, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitz, President Hardin.

Are there comments from our elected officials?

Madam Treasurer.

First, let me say happy Pride Month.

Thank you.

Good evening, President Hardin, Pro Tem Dorans, Chair Bankston, members of council. I wanted to give you a brief overview tonight about a topic that's very important to me as your city treasurer. I'd like to explain why this topic should be something we should all be concerned about. That topic is PCI DSS. That stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards. Why does this matter? Well, every single day, our residents trust the city with their credit card data, whether they're paying income taxes, parking fees, or utility bills. As a municipality, we're legally and contractually obligated to protect that data under PCI DSS. This is not a vague set of IC guidelines. It is a strict global security framework mandated by major card brands like Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express. Compliance ensures that every card swipe, tap, and online transaction is processed in an encrypted, secure way that's shielded from hackers. Because the city has recently suffered a cyber attack, we know that this is a real possibility and that we as a city need to work together to maintain the highest possible standards in this area. So today I'm asking for your help and support in these efforts because there are real financial and operational stakes and a level of serious risks that we should all be aware of. Maintaining compliance is not optional. If the city falls out of compliance, the consequences are immediate and severe. First, the interruption of operations. Card networks can and will suspend our ability to accept credit card payments entirely. Secondly, the financial impact. A lapse could trigger heavy monthly noncompliance fines, escalating costs for every transaction we process, and a catastrophic liability cost in the event of a data breach. Third, and most importantly to me, is the trust factor of our public. If residents cannot securely pay online or at our counters, city revenue slows down and public trust drops instantly. Why is the treasurer's office leading this effort in 2026? Well, we are currently a level two merchant. That means we process a volume of between 1 million and 6 million credit card swipes per year. And we are required to undergo an annual self-assessment to achieve compliance. That effort will begin this month in June. With the success of the banking modernization program that began in 2023 in collaboration with the auditor's office and finance, we are heading closer to becoming a level one merchant, which will require even higher standards on measuring compliance going forward. Historically, these security and merchant infrastructure agreements were maintained through the department of technologies contract with the QSA, which stands for qualified security assessor in 2026, this responsibility is shifting entirely to the treasurer's office. And I will need to ask council for support and maintaining these compliance efforts. So to prevent any disruption to our revenue collection, avoid costly penalties and ensure our systems remain completely secure. The treasurer's office is seeking its own agreement, establishing its own agreement for these services, because given the magnitude and importance of this compliance effort, we feel that this is something that we must do to ensure we have the dedicated tools and third party validation required to keep the city of Columbus fully compliant, protected and open for business. And I would also ask that our department directors, when our qualified security assessor comes around to each department, that you offer your full cooperation with your designees and your staff so that we can get through the compliance and we can come out clean. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Madam Treasurer. Madam Auditor or State Attorney? That's possible. Are there any requests by members of council for the removal of an ordinance resolution of consent portion of the agenda. May we have the motion to waive reading the 30-day legislation by the clerk? Clerk, please call the roll.

Bankston, Barroso, de Padilla, de Ockhour, Dorrance, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitsch, President Hardin.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Will the clerk now read into the record the order's number of 30 legislation on tonight's agenda?

Sure. Finance and Governance Committee, 1357, 1429, 1457, and 1472-2026. Economic Development and Small Minority Business Committee, 1484, 1485, 1508, 1511-2026, Public Service and Transportation Committee, 1335 and 1496-2026. Neighborhood Recreation and Parks Committee, 1410 and 1436-2026. Workforce Education and Labor Committee, Ordinance 1301-2026. Public Utilities and Sustainability Committee, 1160-2026, 1325, 1386, 1387, 1393, 1470, 1471, 1491, 1500, 1515, 1524, 1540, and 1557-2026. With zonings and amendments, zoning committee, 1612-2026, variances 1582, 1599, 1610, 1613, and 1614-2026. Thank you, Madam Clerk.

The following orders appear on our agenda as consent action. Will the clerk now read those into the record?

Sure. Finance and Governance Committee 1308, 1375, 1379, 1427, 1434, and 1467-2026. Economic Development and Smart Minority Business Ordinances 1306, 1480, and 1512-2026. Public Service and Transportation Committee 1384, 1428 and 1498-2026. Neighborhoods Recreation and Parks Committee, 23, 945, 1088, 1378, 1402, 1403, 1406, and 1408-2026. Workforce Education and Labor Committee, ordinances 1228, 1229, 1474, 1605, 1625, and 1626-2026. Health Human Services and Equity Committee, 95, 1227, 1371, 1478, and 1616-2026. Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee, 1146, 1193, 1194, 1329, 1366, 1367, 1426, 1438, 1460 and 1501-2026. Housing Homelessness and Building Committee, 1383 and 1528-2026. Public Utilities and Sustainability Committee, 1138, 1212, 1296, 1318, 1319, 1324, 1342, 1355, 1360, 1362, 1476-2026, Rules and Policy Committee, Appointments A0110-2026.

May I have a motion for approval of those items designated as consent? Is there a second? Clerk, please call the roll by voice.

Bankston? Yes. Barroso de Padilla? Yes. De Acar? Yes. Dorrance? Yes. Green? Ramey? Yes. Ross? Yes. Weitsch? Yes. President Hardin?

Yes, with the exception of 1229-2026, on which I abstain. Thank you.

Those items are on the consent agenda, and items are passed with noted abstentions.

Thank you. Sir, we'll now proceed with the second reading of 30-day postponed in emergency legislation. The first committee to come before council is the Finance and Governance Committee, chaired by Councilman Bankston. Councilman, the floor is yours.

Thank you. First up tonight in Finance and Governance Committee, we have RESOLUTION 0127X-2026 TO ACCEPT THE 2026 PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING BUDGET STEERING COMMITTEE'S RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF OUR VOICE OUR CHOICE BUDGET AND TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE CITY'S ROLE IN SUPPORTING RESIDENTS IN THE EXECUTION OF THE REMAINING PHASES OF THIS PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING PROCESS. THIS RESOLUTION CLARIFIES AND CONFIRMS THE CITY'S SUPPORTIVE ROLE IN THE OUR VOICE OUR CHOICE BUDGET PROCESS AND ACCEPTS PROCESS FRAMEWORK CREATED BY THE STEERING COMMITTEE FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO MAY BE UNFAMILIAR THIS YEAR THE CITY OF COLUMBUS WILL RUN ITS FIRST EVER PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING PROCESS RUN AND MANAGED BY A TEAM OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS AND RESIDENTS I'M REALLY REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS WORK IS SOMETHING THAT WE WERE ABLE TO SECURE I WAS ABLE TO SECURE IN THE LAST YEAR'S CAPITAL BUDGET where members of our community will be able to vote on projects within their communities. The guidebook laying out the general framework for the process can be found on my council webpage at columbus.gov. The next phase of the process, the idea collection phase, where residents can submit project ideas for their districts will start the week of July 6th. So please keep an eye out for further communications from my office and council socials for more info on the timing, unveiling of the website, and engagement opportunities near you in your districts. Are there any questions or comments from my colleagues? Seeing none, I move for passage. I'm sorry, I move for adoption.

Bankston, Barroso de Padilla, de Alcarra, Dorrance Green, Remy, Ross, Weitsch, President Hardin.

Next, we have Ordinance 0867-2026 to authorize the Director of the Department of Technology to enter into a contract with Technology Site Planners, Inc., TechSite, to provide data center alarm monitoring and first responder services to waive the competitive bidding provisions of Chapter 329 of Columbus City Codes to authorize the expenditure of $54,770.00. from the Department of Technology Information Services Division Information Services Operating Fund. Last year, this body authorized the original contract with AxleLiant LLC for purchase of Absolute Secure Access. The city uses Absolute Secure Access software to enable mobile workers, including police officers and public utility field crews, to communicate securely over mobile connection communication networks. Without this solution, communications will not function SECURELY WHEN ACCESSED OVER A MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK, SIGNIFICANTLY DIMINISHING THE EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY OF CITY MOBILE WORKERS. THIS ORDINANCE AUTHORIZES THE FIRST RENEWAL AT A TOTAL COST OF $157,859.50 FOR THE PERIOD OF 12 MONTHS STARTING ON AUGUST 21, 2026 TO AUGUST 20, 2027. SEEING NO QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM MY COLLEAGUES, I MOVE FOR PASSAGE. Next, we have Ordinance 1261-2026 to amend Ordinance 0265-2026 to authorize the Director of Finance and Management on behalf of Facilities Management Division to enter into a separate contract with the Water Works LLC to waive the competitive bidding provisions of Columbus City Codes and to declare an emergency. This ordinance authorizes a standalone contract with Water Works for a plumbing renovation project at police substation 13. Previous legislation was submitted and authorized by this body to expend these funds under a previously established universal term contract. This UTC has a $20,000 threshold for any single stand-alone project. Since this project exceeds this threshold, the additional legislative authority is needed. Are there any questions or comments from my colleagues? Seeing none, I move for passage. Next, we have Ordinance 1430-2026 to authorize the Director of the Department of Finance and Management on behalf of the Office of Construction Management to enter into a contract with Elford, Inc. to provide construction manager at-risk services for the Department of Public Safety's Easton Police Substation Project to authorize an expenditure up to $10 million within the safety GO bond BONDS FUND AND TO DECLARE AN EMERGENCY. THIS LEGISLATION AUTHORIZES A CONSTRUCTION MANAGER AT RISK CONTRACT WITH ELFORD INC. FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW POLICE SUBSTATION NUMBER 6 LOCATED AT 3395 EASTON WAY. THIS NEW FACILITY WILL SUPPORT PATROL OPERATIONS, A COMMUNITY RESPONSE TEAM AS WELL AS DETECTIVE AND ZONE COMMANDER OPERATIONS. THIS SITE WILL ALSO INCLUDE A GARAGE, SALLY PORT SPACE, BICYCLE PATROL STORAGE AND SECURE POLICE PARKING with covered cruiser parking. Additional space will also be allocated for a locker room space and a physical fitness center for police personnel. Furthermore, the new facility will also include a community meeting room for neighborhood events, classes, and department trainings that doubles as a ICC 500 compliance storm shelter. This project was competitively bid by the Office of Construction Management and Elford received the highest overall score from the evaluation committee. CONSTRUCTION IS ANTICIPATED TO COMMENCE LATE SUMMER SLASH EARLY 2026 WITH CONSTRUCTION LASTING APPROXIMATELY 30 13 MONTHS AND JUST WANT TO SAY REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS PROJECT THIS IS ONE I KNOW THAT'S WE HAVE BEEN IN DESIGN FOR A WHILE AND SO LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THAT NEW POLICE SUBSTATION OUT THERE AT EASTON AS WE KNOW EASTON IS OUR THIRD HIGHEST JOB CENTER AND SO HAVING THAT EXTRA LAYER OF PROTECTION AND ALSO A NEW COMMUNITY MEETING SPACE FOR THE RESIDENTS OF DISTRICT FIVE IS GOING TO BE A HUGE WIN for that side of town. Are there any questions or comments from my colleagues? Seeing none, I move for passage. Second.

All right, please call the roll. Bankston, Barroso-De Padilla, De Alcar, Dorans, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitsch, President Hardin.

Thank you. And last, for me and the Finance and Governance Committee this evening, we have Ordinance 1433-2026 to authorize the Director of the Department of Finance and Management to enter into a contract with Nalco Company, LLC, doing business as, NALCO Water for their treatment and remediation of water systems under the purview of the Facilities Management Division to authorize expenditure of $294,377.11 within the general fund to waive the competitive bidding provisions of Chapter 329 of Columbus City Code and to declare an emergency. This legislation authorizes a contract with NALCO Company LLC for continued water treatment services for facilities under the purview of Facilities Management Division. NALCO is currently under contract with the Department of Finance and Facilities Management Division in such capacity. The Facilities Management Division has determined that it is best practice to continue with the water treatment services to safeguard the health and safety of employees and visitors to our city facilities. Are there any questions or comments from my colleagues? Seeing none, I'll move for passage.

Second.

Mrs. Calderon. Bankston, Barroso de Padilla, de O'Connor, Dorns, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitsch, President Hardin, Thank you, Council President.

So I have my committees this evening.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The next committee to come before council is the Public Service and Transportation Committee. That committee is chaired by Council Member Rosa De Padilla. Council Member, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Council President. So we have two items for a second read tonight. And I'm excited about both of them because they come directly from neighbor concerns or neighbors advocating. It's in two different districts, District 5 and District 7. So I'll read the ordinance. Then we'll talk a little bit about each one, their impact. And then in the second one, I do have a little show and tell. It's back. Okay, so first is ordinance 10962026 to amend the 2025 capital improvement budget to appropriate funds within the streets and highways bond fund to authorize the city auditor to transfer funds between projects within the streets and highways bond fund to authorize the city attorney's office real estate division TO CONTRACT FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES RELATED TO THE ACQUISITION OF FEE AND SIMPLE TITLE LESSER INTEREST IN AND PROPERTY NEEDED FOR THE UIRF EAKIN ROAD SHARED USE PATH PROJECT TO AUTHORIZE THE CITY AUDITOR TO APPROPRIATE $1,400,000 WITHIN THE ODOT HIGHWAY SAFETY IMPROVEMENT program to authorize the City Attorney's Office Real Estate Division to negotiate with property owners to acquire the additional rights of way necessary to complete this project, to authorize the expenditure of $1,400,000 from the ODOT Highway Safety Improvement program and the streets and highways bond fund to pay for the project to authorize the director of public service or a designee to execute a construction contract or a similar instrument in any amendments to modification thereto as may be necessary with Indiana and Ohio railway company owned by Watco Companies LLC to facilitate the construction of the UIRF Eken Road Shared Use Path Project and to repay any unused grant funds at the end of the grant period and to declare an emergency. Whew, that was a lot. Okay. This project came from advocates from the Greater Hilltop Area District. So the URIF dollars are grants that the community can actually apply for. They usually take a while for them to get done. So this project has been a long time in the making. This is in District 6 in the Greater Hilltop Planning Area. The project will construct a shared use path from South Wayne Avenue through Hiltonia Park to White Hawthorne Avenue on the north side of Eakin Road and a crosswalk at the intersection of White Thorn Avenue. This project will connect to the existing shared use path on the south side of Eakin Road from White Thorn Avenue to Harrisburg Pike. The project is located in the high injury network due to the number of serious or fatal crashes and or crashes involving vulnerable road users like people walking, biking, or on a motorcycle. This Vision Zero safety improvement will increase visibility of people walking and biking and separate those vulnerable roadway users from vehicle traffic by installing a new ADA compliant sidewalk. So shared use paths are those wider sidewalks that allow quite literally for everyone to share the pathway. So it's bigger than a sidewalk. So if you're on a mobility device, if you're on, you know, pushing a stroller, if you're walking, if you're biking, there's enough of a path for people to use it in multiple ways and not be in the street. Again, this really came directly from the community, which was the emphasis, impetus of us looking for those ODOT dollars to then also add to the project. Deputy Director, is there anything you want to add to this project in particular?

Hi, good evening, President Hardin and Councilmember Barroso-Deputy and the rest of the members of Council. I think you about covered it. This was, as you said, a long time coming. The UIRF funds or the Urban Infrastructure Recovery Funds, they do take a while to get those projects going because we go through a design phase. This is our right-of-way phase.

Why does it always do that to me?

So this is the right-of-way phase, and then we'll have our construction phase coming up after that. So this one's a good one.

Perfect. Do my colleagues have any questions or comments? Seeing none, I move for passage.

Bankston, Barroso, de Padilla, de Acara, Dorrance, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitsch, President Hardin.

Thank you. Next we have ordinance 1464-2026 to amend the 2025 capital improvement budget to authorize the transfer of funds within the streets and highways bond fund to appropriate funds within the federal transportation grants fund to authorize the director of public service to enter into contract with complete general construction company for the roadway multimodal Mount Vernon Avenue phase one project to authorize the expenditure of up to $7 million 100 200 or two thousand nine hundred and thirty dollars and 64 cents from the streets and highways bond fund and the federal transportation grants fund for the project and to repay any unpaid or end-used uh grant funds at the end of the grant period and to declare an emergency so i do believe we have some show and tell for this project uh this is in district seven um so this actually came from Again, from the community, this is improvements that will be in the King Lincoln Bronze Rail neighborhood on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard from Hamilton to St. Clair Avenue and Mount Vernon Avenue from St. Clair to Champion. So the enhancements include Vision Zero safety elements such as improved sidewalks and curbs, protected bike lanes, bus islands, which essentially means if you will look near where the King Arts Complex and the Maroon are, it will actually come into that curb. So when the bus pulls in, they'll be actually not blocking the roadway. but they'll be able to come closer in so folks can load the bus, and then traffic can continue. They'll also include some bump outs. Those bump outs are where you see the extended curves when you go to cross. It goes a little further, so it makes the crosswalk a little shorter for pedestrians and other folks to come across. This reduces that crossing distance and creates a visual narrowing of the street. So we know this is one area where you will see that a lot of folks, we know that this is a high pedestrian area, especially during the summertime. Mamie Moore Park is, lots of events happen there. Juneteenth celebrations happen there. Maroon, the Maroon and King Arts Complex both do summer programming. Down the street, there's the box park. And so especially because of that curb, it made it especially challenging for folks to move in that area. And because it's become more of a pedestrian area, this gives us the opportunity to really create some differentiation on the street between pedestrians. It also allows us to put in some bike infrastructure. So we'll have some bike lanes as well along this area in addition to. And you can see it kind of in those little squares where the bikes would go, the

cars would go and where buses would go deputy director is there something else that you would like to add to this project thank you thank you council member let's hope we don't screech this time here at public service and in the city we're really excited for this project to begin construction this summer this project in particular is a really great example of the partnership between the city and the communities around it there was a lot of Community stakeholders, we're talking about residents, community and faith leaders, nonprofit and other organizations all coming together to talk about what kind of improvements would be best for this area and the corridor. This planning took about two years, so a long time, but it's going to address those safety concerns and all those speeding concerns that they have currently. one thing that's a really great example of something and you'll see more of this in the future as we're doing more of these safety projects we installed quick build improvements at the intersection in the fall of 2021 and those have produced uh produced significant crash reduction uh i'll just 91 percent total crashes have decreased since that time in the installation so and that was right at the corner of champion near champion uh middle school so yep

Yeah. So I'm excited about this project. We started as resurfacing. We've been able to also add in some other things. I mean, this gives us the opportunity when we have those funds to look at additional improvements that we can pull dollars from or that we can use community engagement to think about what are we missing in this particular area. I'm excited because we've also had conversations with the leadership at the Maroon and King Arts Complex about additional enhancements. There's a parking lot there that we are looking at making additional investments in and even doing some very cool parking lot murals and some other things additionally that will come later on down the road. But I want to thank the department for their leadership on this and their partnership. I'm excited because this is, again, something that came directly from the residents because of all of the challenges that we saw along that way. There's a ton of businesses, there's a lot of our community groups, there's churches, there's elementary school or middle school right along that path. So I'm excited about what this will do in terms of safety. especially as we continue to invite more and more folks and make it a more walkable area for the residents along that corridor in District 7. Do my colleagues have any questions?

I do have just one question. I know you mentioned construction starts in the summer. And I know timelines are dynamic with this stuff. Do you have an expected time for completion of the project?

I don't want to tell any lies. So I will get you that information, but I want to say around June 22nd, but don't hold me to it.

I will second to start.

Uh, I think that's when we'll NTP and start shoveling the ground. But, um, I will get you a better answer. That's more, concrete. Awesome. Thank you.

And I do know that that project, as many of our projects are done in phases. So there's a phase one taking into consideration the summertime and the movement of what's happening in the area. Then there'll be a phase two, et cetera, et cetera. So got it. Thank you. Any additional questions? Great. With that, I move for passage. Second.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Bankston, Barroso, De Padilla, De Alcarra, Dorrance, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitsch, President Hardin. Passed.

Thank you. That's all for me this evening.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Next committee to come before Council is the Neighborhood, Recreation, and Parks Committee, chaired by Council Member Day-Akkar. Council Member, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Council President. First, we have Ordinance 1351-2026 to authorize the Director of the Department of Development to enter into professional services contract with MKSK Incorporated to continue a strategic update to the Big Derby Accord Watershed Master Plan to authorize expenditure in an amount of up to $75,000 from the Columbus Water and Power Sewer Operating Sanitary Fund and the expenditure in an amount up to $25,000 from the Neighborhood Economic Development Fund previously established under Ordinance 0273-2026 to authorize expenses incurred prior to the execution of the purchase order to waive the competitive biddings requirement under Columbus City Codes to repeal Ordinance 0273-2026 in its entirety and to declare an emergency. Council originally passed Ordinance 0273-2026 to modify the original contract between Development and MKSK, extending the original end date and adding more funds for continued support of the Big Darby Accord Amendment Project. However, this authorized modification did not take place prior to the expiration of the contract and thus 0273 needs to be repealed so that a new contract can be established. The new contract for this legislation authorizes is identical to the modification seen in 0273-2026 with the same new end date of February 28th, 2027, and the same amount of additional funding, $100,000. Since this ordinance is related to the Big Derby Accord Amendment, I wanted to remind everyone that the mayor put a pause on Columbus's consideration of the Big Derby Accord Amendment in April, following calls from some jurisdictional partners and stakeholder groups to wait until the completion of a new ODNR study. Even though we have not yet passed this amendment, the city is requesting all new projects in this area meet the higher environmental standards and best practices laid out in the draft amendment to the accord. Are there any questions or comments from my colleagues? Seeing none, I move passage.

Bankston, Barroso de Padilla, de Acara, Dorrance, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitz, President Hardin.

Thank you. As I read the title of our next ordinance, I would like to invite Tide Kleismat from the America 250 Ohio Commission up to the podium. This ordinance is 1482-2026 to authorize and direct the city clerk to enter a grant agreement with the Ohio Historical Society to provide upfront funding for event programming associated with America 250 to authorize an appropriation and expenditure from the Neighborhood Initiative subfunds and to declare an emergency. America 250 is a nationwide initiative that has been in preparation for years now to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of our nation, otherwise known as our semi-quincentennial, which is quite a bit of a mouthful, easier to say America 250. Here in Ohio, the General Assembly established the America 250 Ohio Commission in 2021 to lead local efforts to highlight Ohio's contribution in our nation's history. In the winter of 2024, my office started convening a Special America 250 Columbus Committee to begin discussions around how Columbus could participate in these efforts. This group included nonprofits, businesses, and other community stakeholders, and was tasked with coming up with ideas for how to incorporate longstanding Columbus events with the theme of America's 250th birthday, as well as new ideas for how to mark this occasion. Following the completion of this committee's work, A schedule of all America 250 events in Columbus was posted on Experience Columbus and America 250 Ohio's websites. As a cornerstone event of this year-long celebration, both in Columbus and statewide, the Ohio Commission began planning a new, unique 4th of July event to take place downtown. In any other city in the United States, having an event on 4th of July would just be expected, but it's out of the ordinary for Columbus. As part of my budget earmarks, I was able to set aside the funding being legislated today to support this event. The America 250 Ohio Signature Picnic will take place on Saturday, July 4th in downtown Columbus. This celebration will be very different than the Red, White, and Boom event that we all know and love that is happening on July 3rd. The goal is to provide a free, accessible celebration that brings together residents from local communities, cultural institutions, and local businesses during this once-in-a-generation anniversary. The Ohio History Connection is joining Columbus area partners to create a special event that residents may remember and cherish for years to come. And so here this evening, to talk more about the specifics behind the event and inform the community of the variety of efforts happening this year, we have Todd Kleismet, Executive Director of the America 250 Ohio Commission. Todd, the floor is yours.

Great. Well, good evening, President Hardin and members of council. My name is Todd Kleismitt, and I have the high honor of serving as the executive director for the America 250 Ohio Commission, charged with leading Ohio's statewide efforts to showcase Ohio's contributions to the United States these past 250 plus years. I'm here on behalf of the America 250 Ohio co-chairs, Michael B. Coleman and Doug Price, and the rest of our commission, which also includes another name you'll know, former council member, Senator Herschel Craig. You may recall that the city of Columbus passed a resolution in 2024 to become designated as an America 250 Ohio community. I am pleased to share with you that more than 550 other Ohio communities have now done likewise and are participating alongside us in this once in a lifetime opportunity That is happening right here, right now. It is especially important that Ohio's capital city help lead the way during the nation's 250th anniversary this year. I'd like to extend a special thank you to Councilwoman Nancy Day-Ochauer, who has led the charge at the city level. We very much thank you. This ordinance, as you know, authorizes $50,000 to the Ohio History Connection, which serves as the fiscal agent for the America 250 Ohio Commission. to help fund a signature homecoming and picnic event in downtown Columbus throughout the day and night of the biggest day of this year, July 4th, our nation's 250th anniversary, which very conveniently falls on a Saturday this year. This will be an all-day, large-scale celebration with entertainment, performances, family activities, historical interpreters, film screenings, educational displays, food and more. We are giving Ohioans and Columbus residents a celebration in the capital city that they will remember for generations to come. As you know, Red, White, and Boom will take place the night of July 3rd, but keep your party hats on, Columbus and Central Ohio, because July 4th is right around the corner here. Hard to believe we're in June already. Local nonprofits, businesses, and sponsors will have come together to plan this event, which has been over a year in the making. In particular, the City of Columbus, CAPA, Ohio History Connection, Ohio State House, the Columbus Commons, and the Columbus Symphony have been our close planning partners. All activities and performances are free, and the afternoon performances do not require tickets. Admissions to the evening concert in the Columbus Commons, the Columbus Symphony Celebrates America is also free, but does require a ticket registration. So far, over 6,000 tickets have been reserved for that. Should City Council pass this ordinance tonight, it will provide essential support to the event's infrastructure and operations, including EMS, security services, vendor management, coordination services, permitting, and more. And most importantly, help present this wonderful event at no cost for all to enjoy. I could share more, but I think you've got the point, and I so appreciate the opportunity to share some of this with you this evening. Thank you for your consideration. Thanks for being a major partner in this work we're all doing during the nation's 250th. Thank you. I'd be happy to answer if there are any questions.

Do my colleagues have any questions? Yep. Well, thank you much, Todd, for coming down.

Okay. All right. Thanks so much for the opportunity.

If no one has any questions, then I move for passage.

Questions follow up. Bankston, Barroso de Padilla, de Acara, Dorns, Green, Remy, Ross, White, President Hardin.

Thank you, and that's all for my committee this evening.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Is there a motion to recess for zoning? Clerk, please call the roll.

Bankston, Borosso, De Padilla, De Ockhar, Dorrance, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitsch, President Hardin.

We are in recess. We'll reconvene in five minutes for zoning.

We'll be right back.

Thank you.

Bankston, Barroso, de Padilla, de Acara, Dorrance, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitz, President Hardin.

Can I get a motion to dismiss with the reading of the journal? Second. Clerk, please call the roll.

Bankston, Barroso, de Padilla, de Acara, Dorrance, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitz, President Hardin.

Are there any additions or corrections to the journal?

Hearing none the journals approved will now go to the zoning committee council member Dorrance chairs that committee and all members are wanted council member the floor is yours Thank You council president first a little bit of housekeeping with a clerk clerk Please read the numbers of legislation the zoning committee that will require waiver of second reading.

Sure 1531 1532 1534 and 1535 dash 2026. Thank you.

I now move for I now move to waive second read on those items Click please call the roll Thank you. As always, I'll briefly explain the rules pertaining to speaking for council on rezoning and variances. We only ask that presentation of ordinance to have a disapproval from a recommending body or if we have a public speaker assigned to speak against an ordinance. We permit three speakers on each side, three proponents, three opponents. We ask that those speakers limit their remarks to three minutes for the standard rules of city council. All speakers and council variants, including city staff, area commissioners, applicants, and members of the public will be sworn in before they give testimony. Representatives of an area commission are always able to speak in an ordinance and do not need to fill out a speaker slip. We do ask you to alert city staff of your intention to speak at this committee hearing. However, representatives of a civic association do need to fill out a speaker slip because civic associations are not formally recognized under Columbus City Code. We do not have any public speakers signed to speak on our agenda this evening. On the advice of the city attorney's office, we will now swear in city staff to stand and raise your right hand and be sworn in. Do you swear or affirm in the testimony that you have to give yourself the truth, nothing but the truth, that, as you shall answer, underpaints the penalty of perjury? If so, please say I do. Thank you. Please let the record reflect that Brandon Carpenter from the Department of Civilian Services has been sworn in. First, we have ordinance number 1326-2026 to rezone 4559 Knightsbridge Boulevard being 6.03 plus acres located on the north side of West Henderson Road, 300 plus west Knightsbridge Boulevard from CPD Commercial Plan Development District to CPD Commercial Plan Development District. Second, a system of two parcels developed with a recreational facility, each with their own commercial plan development district. The request for rezoning will bring both parcels under one district, allowing limited commercial uses. Proposed by the City Staff, Development Commission, and the Northwest Civic Association. Do I make colleagues have any questions or comments? Seeing none, I first move to amend Estimate of the Clerk.

Second.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Bankston, Borosa, de Padilla, de Ock, Howard, Dorans, Green, Remy, Ross, White, President Hardin.

Amend it. I give the next move to amend to Emergency. Second. Clerk, please call the roll.

Bankston, Barroso, De Padilla, De O'Connor, Dorans, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitsch, President Hardin.

Amend it. Thank you. I finally move for passage as amended. Second. Clerk, please call the roll.

Bankston, Barroso, De Padilla, De O'Connor, Dorans, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitsch, President Hardin.

Pass. Thank you. Next, we have ordinance 1531-2026 to rezone 7210 Long Drive, being 14.8-plus acres located in the northeast corner of Long Road and Abbey Trails Drive from our restricted rural district and PUD 6 planned unit development district to LAR 1 limited apartment residential district. The site consists of five parcels developed with segregated dwellings and multiple detached garages. A request for rezoning will allow a 288-unit apartment complex development. A concurrent council variance will be considered on our agenda as well. The proposal is approved by the City Staff, Development Commission, and the Greater Southeast Area Commission. Any questions or comments from my colleagues? Seeing none, I move a passage.

Bankston, Barroso, de Padilla, de Acara, Dorrance, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitz, President Hardin.

Pass. Thank you. Next we have ordinance 1532-2026, granted variance provisions of section 3333.18, building lines of the Columbus City Coast for property located at 7210 Long Drive to reduce required building setback line for apartment complex in the LAR1 apartment residential district. This is the concurrent variance and rezoning we just considered, which will allow for reduced building setback line from 40 feet to 5 feet along Long Road. for, again, a proposed 288-unit apartment complex. Proposal is approved by the city staff and the Greater Southeast Area Commission. I first move to accept the entire staff report and do evidence as an exhibit.

Second.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Bankston, Borosa, De Padilla, De Ock, Howard, Dorrance, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitz, President Hardin.

Accepted. Thank you. Next move to adopt the fine for staff, the fine for council. Second. Clerk, please call the roll.

Bankston, Borosa, De Padilla, De Ock, Howard, Dorrance, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitz, President Hardin.

Adopted. Finally move for passage. Second. Clerk, please call the roll.

Bankston, Barroso de Padilla, de Acara, Dorrance, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitz, President Hardin.

Passed. Thank you. Next, we have Ordinance 1534-2026, a grant of variance provisions of Section 3332.033R2, Residential District of the Columbia City Coast, property located at 3527 East Deschler Avenue. It's a two-unit dwelling in the R2 Residential District. Second, this is a one-parcel built with a single-unit dwelling and a detached garage. The request of the Council of Barons will allow the parcel to be redeveloped with a two-unit dwelling. The Council of Barons is required because the current zoning district prohibits two-unit dwellings. The proposal is approved by the City of Staff and the Mideast Area Commission. I first move to accept the entire staff report into evidence as an exhibit. I second. I second. I second.

I second. I second. I second. I second. I second. I second. I second. Bankston, Barroso de Padilla, de Acara, Dorans, Green, Remy, Ross, Weich, President Hardin. Adopted.

Thank you. I finally move for passage. Second. Clerk, please call the roll.

Bankston, Barroso de Padilla, de Acara, Dorans, Green, Remy, Ross, Weich, President Hardin.

Passed. Next, we have ordinance 1535-2026, the grant of variance provisions of section 3332.039R4, residential district 3309.14A, height districts. 3312.21BD Landscape and Screening, 3312.25 Maneuvering, 3312.49C Required Parking, and 3332.21.05 B2 Vision Clearance, 3332.04 Air District Lot Width Requirements, 3332.15R4 Air District Requirements, 3332.21 Building Lines, 3332.285 Premier Yard, and 3332.29 Height District, and 33353.05 D24 C2 District Development Limitation. The Columbus City Coates were properly located at 1111 Stewart Avenue to allow a mixed residential development and a monopole telecommunications tower with reduced development standards in the R4 residential district. and to revoke ordinance number 2473-2015 passed October 19th of 2015. This site consists of a partial form to develop the religious facility and the requested council variance will allow the redevelopment of the site with an 80-unit apartment building, 20 townhome-style dwelling units, and 10 detached single-unit dwellings. The request will also maintain the existing monopole telecommunications antenna, which was approved by the previous ordinance. A council variance is required because the current district does not allow apartment residential development or a monopole telecommunications tower. The proposal is approved from city staff and the Columbus Southeast, I'm sorry, Columbus Southside Area Commission. Any questions or comments? Seeing none, I move to accept the entire staff report and do evidence as an exhibit.

Second.

Mr. Palo Verde. Bankston, Barroso, De Padilla, De O'Connor, Dorrance, Green, Remy, Ross, White, President Hardin.

Second. And next, we do adopt the fine for staff, the fine for council.

Bankston, Borosso de Padilla, de Alcarra, Dorrance, Green, Remy, Ross, Weich, President Hardin.

Thank you. If I move to pass. Second.

Bankston, Borosso de Padilla, de Alcarra, Dorrance, Green, Remy, Ross, Weich, President Hardin.

Thank you, Council President.

That's all we have on the zoning agenda. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Further business to come for the zoning committee. Is there a motion to adjourn? I move to second. Please call the roll.

Bankston, Barroso, De Padilla, De O'Connor, Dorrance, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitsch, President Hardin.

Meeting is adjourned. We'll reconvene at the meeting in five minutes.

¶¶ Clerk please call the roll.

The next committee to come before council is the Workforce Education and Labor Committee, chaired by Press Pro Temp.

Press Pro Temp, the floor is yours. Thank you, Council President. First, I have Ordinance Number 1230-2026 to authorize the Director of the Mayor's Office of Education to enter a contract with the United Way of Central Ohio for the purposes of acting as a fiscal agent for the program. to assist in the planning and coordinating of services and distribute funds and program supports to after-school providers and to authorize the expansion of $2 million from the general fund. This legislation funds after-school opportunities for over 1,300 middle school students across the city of Columbus for the 2026-2027 school year. THESE SERVICES WILL BE LOCATED ACROSS THE COMMUNITY IN COLUMBUS CITY SCHOOLS, MIDDLE SCHOOL BUILDINGS, BOYS AND GIRL CLUB SITES, YMCA BRANCHES, AND OTHER COMMUNITY CENTERS, PROGRAMMING TO BEGIN IN SEPTEMBER OF THIS YEAR. LAST YEAR, STUDENTS ENGAGED IN OVER 60,000 HOURS OF AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMMING FUNDED BY THIS CITY, PROVIDING THEM WITH ACADEMIC SUPPORT, ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES, AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES, INCLUDING MENTORSHIP AND OTHERS. THIS PROGRAM CONTINUES TO GROW AND PROVIDES REAL OPPORTUNITIES FOR SUPPORTING OUR YOUNG PEOPLE, PARTICULARLY IN THAT MIDDLE SCHOOL RANGE THAT NEED IT MORE THAN EVER. ANY OF MY COLLEAGUES HAVE QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? SEEING NONE, I MOVE FOR PASSAGE.

THANK YOU. NEXT I HAVE ORDINANCE 1230-2026 TO AUTHORIZE CITY CLERK TO INDO AN ADVANCE PAYMENT GRANT AGREEMENT.

Board of Education in support of the Northland Community School Pilot Program to authorize appropriation of expansion within the neighborhood initiative sub fund and declared emergency. Last year, leaders from the Columbus Education Association invited Council President and myself to a presentation in a community round table at Northland High School. where teachers, students, and community members alike sat side by side to talk about how a new community campus school model was happening at Northland. This model has already been successful in Northland, and it's just its beginning stages. The funding before us today will support a full-time employee to serve as a coordinator for services for teachers, students, parents, and neighbors alike. This is a really exciting next step, and we would not be able to take it without the groundwork that's been laid by the amazing team that invested in the Northland High School and the leadership of the Columbus Education Association. I want to take a moment to turn over the mic to my partner and good in this, Council President Hardin. I want to turn it over to you to talk a little bit about this.

Thank you. Again, thank you for your leadership. Like I said earlier, across the country and here in Ohio, many school districts are facing significant financial challenges as pandemic relief funding expires and state funding models continue to fall short. City Council wants to be a strong partner with Columbus City Schools, not just in addressing today's challenges, but in exploring innovative approaches that can help our students, families, and neighborhoods thrive for years to come. For me and for us, I believe, especially this pandemic, new relationship or this reinvigorated relationship between the City of Columbus and Columbus City Schools is just critically important as we are able to explore current issues, but opportunities really. Opportunities for the City of Columbus to be a better partner, understand, and I guess this is a step in codifying, I guess, our fates are intertwined anyways. So goes Columbus City Schools, goes the city of Columbus, and vice versa. And so it just makes sense that we bring the two legislative bodies together to see how we can continue to support one another. So thank you again for your leadership.

Thank you, Council President. And this is the first piece of legislation that I'm hoping is many that come out of the joint committee between this body and the Columbus School Board, because the Council President's right. And, you know, I think we've got more than a few kindergartners that are about to head off next year from literally this body into Columbus City Schools. And knowing that that success, again, intertwined between what the future of our city looks like and what the future of our kids looks like. And we had the opportunity, again, not only to visit with folks in Northland, but really to go down to Cincinnati and see what a fully mature community and schools program looks like over several decades. And I think some of the frustration I've heard from residents over the years with Columbus City Schools is that oftentimes they'll be like an island in a neighborhood. The community is not invited in. The community is not a part of what's going on. And this community and schools model is about breaking that down, about making schools a neighborhood hub to allow themselves to not only serve those children, but also serve those residents in that community as well in a way that really has not been done before. And I know Columbus City Schools has had lots of efforts over the years to begin some of these efforts, but this is, I think, a really exciting time to formalize them and really put our money where our mouth is really to get this kind of thing off the ground because we've seen some success already at Northland. I also want to thank Mr. Chris Montoya, who's been the person who's been doing this as a stipend in his spare time at Northland High School. So this will actually allow us to make this a full-time position rather than just being one other thing that folks are doing. We do have one public speaker signed up to speak on this ordinance, Ms. Isaiah Thomas from the Columbus Education Justice Coalition. Is she with us? I didn't see her earlier. Was she virtually? Ms. Thomas, welcome to council. Can you hear me?

Yes, I can hear you.

Thank you for being with us. The floor is yours, ma'am.

Thank you. Council President Hardin, President Pro Tem Dorans, and members of City Council, my name is Izetta Thomas. Thank you again for having me tonight. I am the lead organizer and director of the Columbus Education Justice Coalition. But before that, I was an educator teaching special needs preschool in Columbus City Schools. And even before then, I was a student of what was then known as Columbus Public Schools. I am a proud... graduate and mighty tiger of east high school i want to thank the council for taking the time to consider investing in the community campus school model at northland high school while full-service community schools which care for students and folks within and outside of the school's walls have been around since the early 1900s the model gained more widespread attention in the 90s during a time in which the need for wraparound services like mental health, dental care, and more in our schools became apparent for student success. Now since then, community schools across the nation have proven that meeting the needs of our communities and our schools with shared decision-making and intentional care increase attendance rates, lower suspension rates and increase academic success. Strong public schools build strong communities. An investment in the community schools model in Columbus City Schools is an investment in a stronger Columbus. One neighborhood, one community at a time. Now this model was fought for and won by the educators, families, and neighbors who stood on the picket lines with the Columbus Education Association in 2022. And that school year, the 22-23 school year, the reform panel, which is a joint committee between the union and the district, along with community members and parents, researched and selected the data-driven NEA community schools model for school transformation because of its proven track record and support. You've already mentioned the success that we've seen just down the road in Cincinnati. And there are also schools across the nation, including 400 community schools in New York City, that are using this model and have seen an increase in attendance and academic achievement. Once this model was introduced to the students and staff at Northland in 2025, One of the first thing to happen was that our students identified that there was a lack of student leadership in their school. And then with the help of supportive school staff and community members, they reinstated a student government that had gone dormant for over 10 years. The students also began to organize programming, creating a student-led community event that saw the highest community support in years. They went from having a couple of dozen community attendees to over 200 at their first community event that school year. Our students and teachers and our Northland community have been invested in this model for Columbus long before today. And this investment in the Northland Community School pilot by Columbus City Council is an intentional step forward in a path that is being carved out by your citizens. This investment will help to provide, like you said, a full-time community campus school coordinator who will work with Northland students, the school team, parents, and community members and community partners to recognize the strengths of our Northland High School community and its neighborhood, determine the community's specific needs and challenges, and work together to find the best solutions. The Columbus Education Justice Coalition believes in this model. We've believed in it since 2022. We believe that the community schools model is exactly what is needed to strengthen and grow our schools, rebuild community trust, lift student leadership, and create shared decision-making opportunities for parents, school staff, students, and community partners, making CCS the desired destination for quality education in Columbus. thus making Columbus, our state capital, the strongest and most caring city in our state. So I'd like to thank you in advance for your dedication to Northland and the community schools model.

Thank you, Ms. Thomas. I appreciate you being here with us tonight to share those words. I just want to say two other things before I ask my colleagues to consider this legislation for voters. One, I want to thank the Columbus Education Association and their members for making this a priority in their collective bargaining negotiations. It's been a union that has oftentimes not only thought about how to serve their kids, but also serve the greater community itself outside of those classrooms as well. And two, as Ms. Thomas mentioned, just to put a finer point on this, this allows us to be in a position where rather than telling students and telling community members what we think that they need in that neighborhood, this allows, have someone who's asking those students and those community members what do they need to be successful in that school and in that neighborhood. And this allows us to have the resources to actually do that versus just ask those questions, see what happens afterwards. So I'm very, very excited to expand what the great work that is already happening in that school. And with that, let's, any of my colleagues have anything else to add? I move for passage.

Second.

Bankston, Barrosa, De Padilla, De Acara, Dorrance, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitsch, President Hardin.

Passed.

Thank you, Council President. So I'll have my committee speak. Thank you, Mr. Chair. The next committee to come before council is the Health, Human Services, and Equity Committee, chaired by Council Member Green. Council Member, the floor is yours.

Thank you so much, Council President. Tonight in our Health, Human Services, and Equity Committee, we have two ordinances on second reading. The first one is Ordinance 1041-2026 to authorize and direct the Board of Health to enter into contracts with the following vendors, Columbus Neighborhood Health Center, Inc., DBA Primary One Health, Heart of Ohio Family Health Centers, Lower Lice Christian Health Center Inc., Southeast Inc., The Ohio State University College of Nursing, and Lutheran Social Services Central Ohio to provide primary health care and dental services at community-based health centers to authorize the expenditure of $3,800,000 from the Health Special Revenue Fund to authorize the payment of expenses prior to the purchase order Execution starting January 1st of 2026 and to declare an emergency. Columbus Public Health is entering into a contract with Columbus's six fully designated federally qualified health centers to provide comprehensive primary and preventative health care services for uninsured, underinsured, and other medically underserved Columbus residents. Healthcare services include, but are not limited to, preventative primary care, sick visits, women's health, OBGYN, childhood immunizations, dental services, vision services, behavioral health, substance use counseling, medically assisted treatment for those experiencing substance use disorders, and other types of care coordination. In 2024, Columbus' six federally qualified health centers served collectively 98,803 Franklin County residents. This funding allows for Columbus's FQHCs to continue to offer high quality healthcare services to Columbus's most vulnerable residents. I can't thank all of my colleagues enough, as well as the department over at Columbus Public Health enough for their continued support of this absolutely critical work. More and more people are needing this type of support more than ever and ability to access care is becoming harder and harder. These funds go a long way to bridge gaps that are only growing even wider. And I know that this past year was a very tight budget year. I know there's a lot of uncertainty in Columbus Public Health's budget. But we were all able to come together to also make sure to take care of our neighbors external to the city. And it means a lot. So are there any other questions or comments from my colleagues? Seeing none, I move passage.

Bankson, Barroso de Padilla, de Acara, Dorans, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitsch, President Hardin.

Thank you. Our second ordinance tonight is ordinance 1479-2026 to authorize and direct the Board of Health to accept grant funds from the Ohio Department of Health in the amount of $1 million and any additional funds for the implementing enhanced HIV prevention and surveillance for health departments to end the HIV epidemic in Ohio grant program following the receipt of executed agreement. to authorize the appropriation of $1 million and any additional funds awarded from the unappropriated balance of the health department's grant fund and to declare an emergency. Clients are served through this program under the community engagement pillar resource navigation programming addressing social determinants of health and a housing program offering housing services, emergency financial assistance, and transportation to support PrEP access with testing resources and referrals delivered flexibly across clinic, community, and telehealth settings. This ordinance is submitted as an emergency to not delay services to clients and to meet grant deliverables required by the grantor to avoid being at risk for forfeiture of funds due to the grant start date. These funds in this program is absolutely essential in being able to provide support and care to people that are living with HIV across our community. I think it was about, am I right, Edward, about 50% of Ohio's HIV positive population lives here in Franklin County or Central Ohio area. And so making sure that we are able to provide support and care to people that are living with HIV as well as to prevent the spread of HIV throughout our community is absolutely essential, and our staff over at CPH do an absolutely exceptional job of providing wraparound supports and whole person care to this otherwise, you know, pretty vulnerable population. So do any of my colleagues have questions or comments? Seeing none, I move passage. Second.

Clerk, please call the roll. Bankston, Barroso, de Padilla, de Acara, Dorrance, Green, Remy, Ross, White, President Hardin.

Pass.

Thank you, Council President. That's all for me tonight.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Before we move to the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee, I'd like to correct the journal. The last ordinance in the Workforce Education and Labor Committee was ordinance number 1600-2026. I will now go to the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee.

Council Member Ramey, chairs of the committee, all. Thank you very much, Council President. Tonight in Public Safety and Criminal Justice, I have six ordinances for second read. First is 252-2026 to authorize the director of the Department of Public Safety on behalf of the Division of Support Services to enter into a contract with Motorola Solutions, Inc. for the maintenance and support of the city's 800 megahertz radio P25 digital system in accordance with the sole source provisions of the Columbus City Code to authorize an expenditure of $1,188,092.14 from Public Safety's General Fund and to declare an emergency. This radio system is a primary source of communications from the dispatch center to public safety units in the field. A bid waiver is requested because Motorola has been the city's radio contractor for over 30 years and is the only company known to the Department of Public Safety that can reliably maintain the precise systems being used. Emergency action is necessary to allow critical radio services to continue uninterrupted and ensure law enforcement's rapid response and coordination in the field. Are there any questions or comments from my colleagues? Seeing none, I move for passage.

All right.

The next ordinance before us is Ordinance 1225-2026, which authorizes a contract renewal with Sound Thinking, formerly known as ShotSpotter. But before I read that ordinance into the record, I want to take a step back and address a few broader issues. Over the past several months, I have heard clearly from residents, community members, and privacy advocates about concerns related to technologies used by the Columbus Division of Police, including shot spotter and flock cameras. These concerns are not unique to Columbus. They have been covered by media across Ohio and are part of a broader conversation that cities across the country are having about how to manage public safety technology, the policies that govern it, the oversight required, and the privacy implications that come with it. As chair of the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee, I take these concerns very seriously. And that is why, over the last few months, my staff and I have met with various advocacy groups, including the ACLU, and have had in-depth conversations with the Department of Public Safety and the Division of Police about these issues. Tonight, I have asked the Department of Public Safety and the Division of Police to be prepared to answer questions about both ShotSpotter and Flock and technology in general. But before we get to those questions, I want to provide a brief update to the community on the work my office has done so far. Over the last two months, my office has helped organize briefings with the Department of Public Safety and the Division of Police for each council office regarding police surveillance technologies. In those meetings, counsel was told steps have been taken to limit access to Columbus's flock data by federal agencies to the fullest extent possible. In addition, I have asked the Division of Police to develop a formal policy governing the use of police surveillance technologies. That policy should not only address flock and shot spotter, but also future technologies that may raise similar privacy oversight and accountability concerns. I'd like to then codify that policy into law, depending on what it looks like in consultation with them. I've asked the chief of police to conduct an audit of the use of flock data, and I'd like to hold a hearing in the future to share what that audit finds. But I do want to be clear. If our flock systems are being used inappropriately by federal enforcement, or any other agencies to enforce immigration law or to infringe on civil liberties, then that is entirely unacceptable. And I will bring legislation to curb their use. But at this time, I'd like to give Deputy Chief Tim Myers an opportunity to answer a few questions. Deputy Chief, welcome to council. Appreciate you being back here this evening. First off, how many flock cameras does the city have versus how many others exist in the community?

Sure, and Council President Hardin, members of council, I really appreciate the opportunity to come here. We've had a lot of conversations so far about this. Happy to continue to be part of the dialogue. The Division of Police is very proud of being a part of the record reduction in violent crime that we've seen. We believe that a lot of these technologies are valuable contributors to that, but we also understand that these are powerful tools And with that power comes a responsibility. And so happy to be a part of that. To answer your question, Council Member Remy, we have currently 48 FLOC automated license plate readers that are deployed. We have 28 that are in the process of either permitting or installation. So that'll be a total of about 76 when we're done. They were acquired through some violent crime reduction grants over the course of the last few years, and we've just been deploying them over that course of time. And how many of the, that are in the essential? So just to give some perspective on what that looks like in terms of the ecosystem, If you draw a box around the greater Columbus area, you'll come up with about 750 flock automated license plate readers within that ecosystem that we have access to. So our actual physical deployment, once it is complete, will represent about 10% of that.

And then what control or influence do we have over the other cameras?

We do not control the deployment of those other cameras. Those are other law enforcement agencies. or those are private entities like HOAs or businesses that have contracted directly with FLOC to deploy those. I should make it clear that those private entities don't have access to the data. They contract so that the data can be shared with law enforcement. So, for example, if an HOA or community group were concerned about deaths from motor vehicles and things of that nature, if they wanted to generate more leads for us, they could contract directly with the company and then through the company share their sensor data with us, which really just means we would be able to search their sensors for investigative leads. Okay.

Can you speak to the steps that the division has taken to limit access to flock data by federal agencies?

Sure. I should take a step back and kind of explain how we got here in terms of our sensor and surveillance technology. As various technologies have been deployed over the years, so for example, ShotSpotter was probably one of our first big surveillance or sensor technologies, along with the neighborhood safety cameras. Those have existed in various parts of either public safety as a whole or the Division of Police. So as these technologies have rolled out, and as they have frankly become more and more powerful, we have recognized a need to consolidate the management of that so that we have a lot better oversight over all the different uses of the technology. Sitting here to my right is actually one of the examples of the chief's commitment to that. This is Lieutenant Charlie Waldanga. He is in our real-time support section as part of our real-time crime center operations. A few years ago, his position did not exist. We recognized the gap that we needed to fill in governance and consolidating this, And so with the chief support, we're able to fill that. Since that time, we have taken a hard look at our policies and procedures, tightened up, created SOPs, and then we have an SOP, excuse me, a division directive revision that's in process right now. As far as FLOX specifically, there are some filters internal to the FLOX system that we implemented back in December that prohibit our flock sensors from being used for any search that indicates that is for the purpose of immigration enforcement or for the purpose of any sort of access to reproductive care investigation. We opted into both of those search filters back in December of last year, and that is across the flock system. So essentially what that means is it drops our sensors off of any search for any agencies who might be doing work related to that.

You've seen a lot of cities in the news, specifically Dayton and Cleveland. What do you think?

what have you done you know to hopefully mitigate that not occurring here yeah so um actually before uh all the information from dayton came to light we were already thinking about other ways to potentially get at community concerns particularly as it relates to federal immigration enforcement right because our badge says columbus right that's that's not really our concern our concern is serving the whole of the city uh everybody that's here okay uh so In thinking about that, one of the areas of risk that we identified is 287 agencies. 287 law enforcement agencies, if you're not familiar, it is a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allows local agencies to partner with immigration enforcement to do things like serve administrative warrants for ICE and things of that nature. Should go without saying, but the Columbus Division of Police is not a 287 agency, although there are 287G agencies in Columbus and obviously across the country. So we actually reached out to Flock. I think we're the first agency to do so. And we asked them to implement a filter on their end so that we can opt out of any 287G agency from our search. Because the balance we're trying to strike is that we do get a lot of investigative value for some very serious crimes with the use of alpr searches but at the same time we want to strike a balance and make sure that our sensors that are deployed and the data that comes from is not used for purposes that are not supported by the city can you tell us what you've been working on as far as the surveillance technology policy Yes, absolutely. So again, our goal is to centralize and provide a little bit more superintendents to this effort. So it was, I think, in early December, late last quarter of 2025, I tasked the real time support section with starting that policy process. And we actually gave them a draft of the ACLU model legislation on this topic. and said, hey, let's go ahead and draft policy that is responsive to the concerns in this model legislation, because it's something that, frankly, everybody should be able to get behind in terms of transparency, in terms of communication with the community. And so we want to be able to hit that target if council decides to legislate in that direction. So in doing so, we've reviewed the policies of 20 or 30 agencies, a lot of which were also nationally accredited agencies. trying to bring out those best practices. Broad strokes of what that policy is going to include, it's going to include a requirement for surveillance impact statements. So anytime we come to council with a request like the ones you're seeing today for funding for particular surveillance technology, we're also going to come with a surveillance impact report that explains what the technology is, what exactly it does, why we need it, what gap it fills for us. how it works in particular how the data is stored how it's being deployed is it being deployed uniformly across the city or is it being deployed in particular areas if it's being deployed in particular areas why is that what is our justification those are all things that we laid out in those surveillance impact reports they're going to be required by policy we're also going to take a hard look at how much it costs to make sure the cost benefit makes sense and then we're going to take a look at those potential impacts to privacy. That is something that we as a division take seriously. That's something that I personally take seriously. My lock screen on my phone says get a warrant. It's something that as law enforcement officers, we have to recognize, right? We live in a democracy and take that seriously. So we're going to take a hard look at the impact on civil liberties of these technologies we're deploying And then if there are ways we can mitigate that, then we're going to articulate the steps to do that. We already do a lot of this. So, for example, our neighborhood safety cameras that have been deployed for years and years, we recognize the potential impact to Liberty there. We institute, for example, privacy blocks so that private residences, windows and doors and things like that that would otherwise be captured within the field of view are blocked out. These aren't things that are new to the division of police. It will just be centralizing that and putting it in a place that council and the public can see that.

Um, do you know when we can expect the policy to become publicly available?

Sure. So the target date that I set for the policy was June 30th. Uh, that will not happen. Unfortunately. Um, we publish on a quarterly cycle. There are union notifications that we have to make in order to comply with collective bargaining agreements. And we could still technically get it done by that date, but I want to tell you this is not something that we should rush. There will be discussion. There will be changes throughout what we call the concurrence process. The reason that it's not going to be done at the end of this month is the unit that is responsible for shepherding it through this process One is short staffed due to the hiring freeze, so they've had some other things they've had to work on. And then two, we have, we're in our reaccreditation cycle through CALEA, and so they had some late breaking things. All that said, given the public interest in this, I think we can do an off cycle publication. So essentially, as soon as it is ready, as soon as we have done that deliberation, We will publish it, so certainly before the end of the next quarter, certainly before September 30th, but hopefully much sooner than that. I just think it's important that we actually take a minute internally to deliberate on the right balance on a couple different things. If we rush through that and we don't have good defensible policy, we'll just be buying a scandal on an installment plan, quite frankly.

What geographic areas does ShotSpotter, or I'm sorry, SoundThinking contract, what areas does this involve, geographic areas?

Yeah, broadly, our entire deployment of ShotSpotter SoundThinking's product is 12 square miles in the city of Columbus, Linden, the near east side, and the hilltop to include the Wedgwood area.

Could you characterize the usefulness of both FLOC and ShotSpotter as investigative tools for improving public safety?

Absolutely. And I'll characterize it in two different ways. There is response, and then there's investigation, because I think those are both important. response. Police officers are going to respond to these incidents. And the way I like to look at it is you want officers positioned with the best information possible to make the best decisions at the time. That's why we have stood up an interim real time crime center that uses this technology in an ongoing basis so that when the officers are responding to our neighbors that they have the best, most timely, most accurate information they can. That helps us be more precise. It helps us stop the right vehicle leaving the area of a crime rather than having to cast a wide net and stopping people that don't have anything to do with what's going on, for example. From a patrol response perspective, we also use it quite frequently for other matters like tracking down high-risk missing people, high-risk missing adults, high-risk missing children. If they are in or around a vehicle, we have found FLOC to be a valuable tool in helping with that. And then from the investigative side, we know from the work of groups such as the Innocence Project that while eyewitness identification is important and we are always grateful for the tips that we receive from community members, eyewitness identification is not infallible. And so when we are doing these investigations, it is important that we have some other objective sources of truth to cross-reference and validate what we think to be true. I would never want to send somebody to prison for even one day on the basis of a faulty conclusion, and so these technologies are a key way to help us do that, to check our understanding, to challenge our assumptions. ShotSpotter helps us markedly in our ability to recover casings that are fired at the scenes of incidents. They help us even know that rounds have been fired because based on data that we have, only about a quarter of the shots fired that we know have occurred due to gunfire alerts are actually called into the police. And when they are called in from a citizen, you know, it's usually a pretty vague description. It's just a, hey, heard a couple shots, not really sure where. And that makes it very difficult for us to recover casings. Why is that important? Well, because the casings help us develop investigative leads. Just last year, we generated 655 investigative leads out of casings that were recovered from ShotSpot or gunfire alerts, which are, those are all instances where casings were tied to another gun-related incident. And so as we are pulling the thread on these investigations, what it starts creating is a web of associations, and it helps us track these crime guns as they move throughout the neighborhoods. And the goal is to, in a timely manner, figure out who's illegally carrying and using these weapons and get them off the street. And so it's invaluable for that.

All right, thank you so much, Deputy Chief. I'm going to now ask if my colleagues have any questions or comments about this topic.

Yes, hi, Chair. A couple things. I mean, I definitely, I hope that we're having a public hearing soon because I think there's lots of questions. I mean, we could probably be here for like another hour asking questions, specifically about FLOC, I think, for, I mean, I think, One, I want to remind people that not only do we not participate in two 87G agreements, but we made it so that CPD could not participate in them. They would have to come to council. That was part of our ICE package. And so I just also want to just remind everyone that that is not something that we will participate in unless it was brought to council for us to decide to do that. There's a couple questions that I have just around FLOC. If you could just answer them. just super directly. First of all, how long do we keep the data after we've collected it? And then one, two, how do we decide where the flock cameras go? And then three, you mentioned this a little bit, but I just want to give crystal clarity around. So we have flock cameras and while we have asked people not to participate, could it be possible for someone to do a search within the system even if they're not explicitly saying, people are people and people use different tactics to do whatever if you have access to the system and you are looking for someone in particular could you not do some other kind of alternative search even though it might be for immigration enforcement service or that might be the purpose behind it but you search for something else because you have the information you could still collect the data correct

Yes, so let me try to hit those. I'll answer your last one first. Okay. Yes, that can happen, right? The flaw in most systems is the human. And so as we are thinking about how we're gonna control this, we have to think about those adversarial usage. So one balance that we think will be very helpful and workable is if we can implement on the flock and itself a 287G filter, because that will at least help us exclude any agency, because that's required to be published. That's publicly available from DHS. That will allow us to say, hey, we're opting out of those shenanigans. That will allow us to exclude that from our sensors, which, yeah, there's still the possibility that some other agency, some other user somewhere else. We have to acknowledge that, which is why it's important to still have a robust audit program that's looking for suspicious use or things that are sort of out of scope. But we think that at least removing the agencies that have statutory backing, statutory authorization, to participate in those operations will get us at least a 95% solution to that concern.

And then can you, where do we decide the flock cameras go?

So the flock ALPRs that we have now were deployed on the basis of some violent crime reduction grants. And so they were co-located with the other sensor technology that we already have, like ShotSpotter, like our neighborhood safety cameras. So again, broadly in those same areas where we have ShotSpotter, we also have the deployments of our Flock automated license plate readers. I also, just because Flock has a lot of different offerings, I should make clear, what we use are their automated license plate reader cameras. So these are not live cameras. They are designed for one purpose and one purpose alone, and that is to capture license plate and type of a vehicle they're not designed to capture people they certainly can that is not their purpose however it is is designed to just capture the vehicle and anything that's unique about the vehicle to your first question about data retention the images and the license plate reads, that is the flock data that I'm talking about, that is only retained for 30 days unless during the course of investigation from, for example, the real-time crime center or from a detective, they identify a particular flock hit, we call it, as pertinent to a criminal investigation, then they will retain it pursuant to our evidence retention policies in our evidentiary system of record. But it still then gets purged administratively from the flock system at the end of the 30 days. So in other words, if we're going to use it for an investigative purpose, we have 30 days to find it in the flock system. Otherwise we will, we will never find it in that system. Now the audit logs we do retain, um, for audit purposes. That's also in the flock system. going back years at this point.

So I will say, and this is why I think a public hearing where we can really give it its due and dig in and be able to have back and forth. I know that today specifically we're talking about ShotSpotter, which I've had continued conversations with the community about and feel at least marginally more comfortable with how we use that. Flock still makes me feel uncomfortable. I think that while we put in protections, I think to what you just stated before, I think that we are dealing with, especially when you talk about a federal immigration enforcement agency that does not follow a specific code of ethics nor has regulations around them. I think I just have to then ask myself, how are we protecting people? And so I think this is why a conversation around how we use these sorts of technologies, I understand that there's a double-edged sword, but I think for me, I'm still not comfortable that the return on investment that we are making is not putting people in danger. I think that's why having a hearing where we can really have a conversation and ensuring that it's on an evening that folks can come in and they can participate and we can have a back and forth with folks in the community around what they see and what they want because inevitably it affects all of us. So thank you for, I know we've had conversations, continued conversations. I look forward to making those conversations public so the community can also participate so that we can make a more informed decision about how we continue to use pieces and parts of this technology.

And that's the intent, right? I mean, but didn't think we could let this go without having this conversation first. So President Pro Tem Dorn.

Yeah, Deputy Chief, so one, thanks for being here and providing this information. I think a question that I have for a shot spotter is that you alluded to this earlier, you know, with regard to sort of the city itself being in a difficult financial position right now, you refer to the hiring freeze and being understaffed. You know, this is not an insignificant amount of investment in a piece of technology, right? And I guess the question I have, one is just, as we get into more of these things, is it worth the investment from an effectiveness standpoint? So one, just wanted to ask the question sort of out loud, both from your opinion and obviously you mentioned earlier there are times in which this is a tool in which we learn about shots being fired that we wouldn't otherwise. But also there are times in which that technology does not really provide us with the information that then becomes actionable. Can you walk us through, you know, and again, I don't know if you have the numbers in front of you, but how often do we respond to a shot spot or alert and how often when we do respond that there is in fact an incident that has occurred that requires some level of investigation?

Yeah. Thank you for the questions. Council Pro Tem Dorns. There's a lot to unpack there. I guess I'll start by saying that on a per alert basis, it costs about $220 per shot spot or gunfire alert. Now, here's the problem with that stat. The better we do at reducing instances of gunfire in the shot spot or alert areas, the more that that number goes up. So it looks like it's more expensive per incident. By way of example, when we started with the ShotSpotter deployments, looking at, we did like a four-year retrospective. We were at about 20,000 rounds that were fired in calendar year 2022 that were detected in the ShotSpotter system. That is down, as of last year, to under 10,000, 9,500 shots fired. So I think, you know, obviously I'm not going to claim that any one piece of technology or even just the division of police is responsible for that drop. I think the whole community has a part to play in that, but I also can't sit here and say that these technologies have not proven incredibly useful in that. Um, to the question of how often do we show up and something has happened? Well, It is incredibly rare that, as far as we can tell, that when ShotSpotter alerts us of gunfire, the gunfire didn't take place. If ShotSpotter is telling us that shots have been fired, shots have almost assuredly been fired. The question is whether anyone was struck, whether anyone else called about it. whether we find casings. And so there is certainly a diminishing funnel there when it comes to that. By way of example, in 2024, which we did a full deep dive a couple years ago on this, 2024 we had 3,700 gunfire alerts that year. There were just shy of 1,000 incident reports involving those alerts, and there were about 881 casings that were recovered from there. We can also identify for that year 384 victims, including almost 150 felony assault victims. and nine homicide victims where we can definitively say that ShotSpot are contributing. And again, as I recall when we put this together, we were being a little conservative there. We didn't want to give credit where it wasn't due.

So if I'm interpreting your answers, right, I mean, you would argue that, you know, this $661,000 is, is worth it for, again, considering that, you know, when we think about, um, you know, additional overtime, um, you know, cost of the city's incurring right now, um, as compared to what our, what our city budgets look like that, you know, as compared to spending this, these dollars in another way in public safety, you know, whether or not that's overtime for officers, whether or not that that's other things,

your opinion that this is the best way to spend this money so the division is always looking for more ways to stretch the dollar so if there is other technology out there that fills the gap for a lesser price point we would certainly be open to that that said In the budgetary environment that we're in, we think about it in terms of what multiplies the effectiveness of the officer on the street. Because 90% of our budget, which, as you all know, is substantial, part of the city's general fund budget, about 90% of it is for personnel. So that only leaves 10% for these supplies and services, including ShotSpotter. And so when we're looking to squeeze and make every dollar count, we have to look at, yes, these are expensive technologies, but do they make the very expensive people more effective in what they're doing? And the reality is the Division of Police has only netted about 46 officers from 2006 to now. In terms of when you look at all the people that we've hired, all the people that have retired, resigned, been terminated, et cetera, we've netted about 46. And in that time, obviously, the city has grown immensely. We're very proud of what we've done. And again, we are always looking at ways to do more for the citizens and to be more efficient, but this is one of those ways. Because if you can't have a police officer everywhere at all times, you can at least let the officers that you do have know where a problem is and get them there in a timely manner and allow them to be more effective when they get there.

Thank you. Thank you, President Pro Tem. Council Member Green.

Thank you so much. Deputy Chief, as it relates to shot spotter before I go to the flock questions that I had. So with the reductions in violence that we've seen, you noted that's like a really impressive figure, by the way. So congratulations to the division and to all the folks that have been working so hard to reduce violent crime in our community to see that reduction from the 22,000 to the 10,000. shots fired. So recognizing the budget constraints that we're under to President Pro Tem's point, as we're seeing continued reduction in violence, is there any thought given to future years, you know, at some point of scaling down some of these technologies once we have sort of like, if we see this trend continue at a minimum?

Yeah, that's a tricky one because You know, if I've got my umbrella out, I'm presently dry. And if I put it away, you know, it might have stopped raining or it might not. So I think that's why it's important to have a good sense of what direction we're heading with the data. But to your point, I think we should always be evaluating whether the bang for the buck is still there. You know, if there are other technologies that fill that gap or if the need can be supplanted by another method of doing things, I think we have to be open to that for sure. As to ShotSpot, I mean, at this point, it's a sunk cost in that we've done the difficult work of permitting and installation and deployment. So at least through the life of these contracts, we would recommend sustaining them. But, I mean, the chief is always open to new ways of doing things, particularly if it could be done while saving some taxpayer dollars.

I think that's something that I think about, too, when we have conversations about alternate crisis response, right, which is, like, not the idea of replacing or supplanting officers, but as we find, you know, better types of intervention, right? It doesn't make sense to, like, keep investing in the same way and something that, you know, we might have a better alternative for. So it's not like a this or a that. It's just sort of a little bit of evolution, so. Um, you had mentioned the, um, uh, the two 87 G, uh, request that we made to flock. Did flock respond to that? Did they confirm that we have the ability to do that? And when was that request made to them?

Uh, I don't recall the specific date. It was probably over a month ago. Now I checked in a week or two ago. And they didn't have an update for me. But in the initial meeting, which was, you know, with some pretty high up folks within the organization and some very high up folks in our organization, they responded positively to it. They thought it was a good idea because, again, we're not the only agency in the country trying to strike this balance and trying to respond to community concerns. But I do think we were the first agency to approach them about this. And so if they're able to implement it, which from a technical perspective, Um, it doesn't seem that difficult to do. So we're hoping that we'll be able to hear something.

So that is not implemented yet. And we're not quite sure we feel optimistic about it. How long does an update like that take, um, to change and add those filter set settings in the interim, I guess.

Well, I can tell you, um, just as an end user, what I've seen from flock just this year, There have been a number of changes that they've rolled out in pretty rapid succession that track pretty closely to the ongoing public conversation across the country. And so it seems like they are continuing to make these moves. If we get a no from them or if we get a yes, it's on the shelf, but don't expect it anytime soon, then obviously we're going to have to reevaluate how we strike the right balance. But...

right now i think uh i have no reason to believe that they're not pursuing it diligently um and so and just to clarify too i think you're you council member rosa de patia asked about this a little bit but so as it stands right now even though we have those ice filters essentially anybody can put any purpose that they want to what sort for why they're accessing it. So they don't have to write immigration enforcement. They could just write wanted person and then that would bypass those filters. And there are currently no federal laws that you are aware of or requirements that would hold them accountable if they were misusing this for the purposes of immigration.

So yes, it would be a violation of the flock terms of service to use it for a non-criminal justice purpose or to use it for some reason that isn't the truth. But from our perspective as another participating user, it would probably be difficult to assess that. As far as federal laws, I'm not aware of any federal criminal statute. I imagine that if you pulled on the federal fiscal law thread long enough, you would probably find that it's an impermissible use for a federal agency to co-opt local law enforcement where Congress hasn't appropriated funds for that use, like potentially. But I'm not aware of any other constraint on their end.

I have a question for the city attorney's office related to this. On February 3rd of 2017, Mayor Gunther signed an executive order where he stated in it that that no city department or employee may use city monies, equipment, or personnel for the sole purpose of detecting or apprehending persons based on the suspected immigration status unless in response to a court order. In furtherance of this policy, no city office or employee shall request information or otherwise investigate or assist in the investigations. Again, Just a reminder, they used City Money's equipment or personnel also as a way of assisting investigations. To assist in investigations of a person's immigration status, unless a warrant exists, a criminal violation was reported, or an arrest was made, the executive order goes on to read, it shall be the policy of the City of Columbus to vigorously oppose any effort to require the use of taxpayer resources, such as these flock cameras, for the enforcement of federal immigration policy. If we learn that these black cameras have or have the ability to be, which it sounds like they do, it sounds like they do, it sounds like even if we put this 287G filter on it, that people are still very peopley and they can still access these systems and misuse them as we've seen around the state, around the country. If that is the case, then would the use of these technologies constitute a violation of this executive order that was passed on the 3rd of February of 2017?

Council President, Council Member Green, I'm not really prepared to answer that specific question tonight. There are too many other potential questions that have to be answered before I can get to that hypothetical. Starting with, is this even taxpayer money? Is this a private grant? Because as you said, the executive order talks about the use of taxpayer resources. So if it's not taxpayer resources, the executive order arguably would not be implemented. Are we using it? or is somebody else using it? Do we have specific knowledge? Do we have reason to believe? So these are all issues that would affect the answer that I could give you. Um, it's just right now too hypothetical to be able to tell you, yes, if a flock camera, the city of Columbus were accessed improperly based on everything we've heard from, from the deputy chief, If it was improperly accessed, does that mean somebody here has violated the executive order? Probably not. Because we, it sounds, and again, this is not something that I have dug deeply into. I'm just giving you first impressions. But from what I have heard, it sounds like we are doing everything that we possibly can reasonably to make sure that third parties don't have access for improper purposes under what we have determined is a proper use.

Got it. Okay. Thank you. If you could look into that a little bit more and then maybe that could be something we could discuss in the hearing. I'm just going to say this. I know I'm supposed to come up here and ask questions, but I've had a day today. I'm not really into the spirit of asking performative questions, I guess I'll say. I have concerns and I'm deeply troubled at what we're seeing around the United States right now. And I want to preface this statement by saying that my baby brother is a police officer and I am 100 percent on board with ensuring that our officers that go out there every single day and put their lives on the line to keep our residents safe. have access to every single tool in the toolbox that is available to them to solve crimes faster and keep people safer. But these technologies have no regulation. I come from a behavioral health background. In behavioral health care, we have HIPAA rules that ensure that every single person in the United States is operating and protecting people's privacy. And then for me, within an agency even, I can't access someone else's data. And I feel very confident and comfortable with the way that the division has been handling their own internal policymaking and ensuring that we are using these technologies for investigative purposes and that there is real stringent requirements. But we have, it is well documented that we have bad actors out there that are using every tool that they can get their hands on to target individuals and violate their due process under the law. And it's unacceptable. You know, we cannot continue moving forward with a technology that, yes, does help us solve crimes, while at the same time it could be used to commit others. And I think that we have many examples of where this shot spotter, or not shot spotter, of where flock cameras have worked really well and have been really beneficial in helping us get justice for families and closure for people who have been victims of crime. But I think it's also working well for other people who don't have the good intentions that we do here in our communities. And I just feel very strongly that we cannot afford to wait for a thorough investigation. Every day that we are waiting is another day that somebody could be taken away from their family unjustly. And so while I'm all in favor of us holding this hearing and doing this investigation, but I feel like there's too many questions for us to continue using this right now, especially in the context of what we're seeing around the United States.

Thank you Council Member, Council Member Ross.

Just a quick question around Shot Spotter specifically. I feel like the first iterations of Shot Spotter, there were communities asking for Shot Spotters to be in specific neighborhoods, is that correct?

Yes.

Is that still the same process that you take or is it a different process for determining where Shot Spotter is in the community?

Well, we have not deployed any new ShotSpotter areas from those initial deployments. The contract under consideration is just re-upping what is already there. So that process that we initially underwent is how we ended up with the coverage areas that we did.

So each ShotSpotter deployment right now has been in response to a community request for ShotSpotter in those areas?

Coupled with the violent crime statistics, specifically homicides, felony assaults involving firearms and shots.

So just to clarify, if I'm living in a neighborhood whereby the data doesn't somehow correlate with the request for shot spotter, meaning that they're not, it's not a hotspot for violent crime, then they would not have been deployed in that area.

No. Okay.

That's it. Thank you.

Thank you. Council member, council president.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and a reminder that this is not a public hearing, and I know that we've used this meeting as such, but I do think that this conversation between balancing privacy and safety is the most evergreen and necessary conversation that a democracy will ever have, and so I don't think we should apologize for slowing down to have that conversation, because the only two questions that I had specific to Flock was because One, I appreciate the chair's leadership and counsel's insistence on having the hearing, asking the chief, and I appreciate her leadership in having the audit of how we are using this technology, but also how it may be used by others. That is a wholly necessary and important conversation to have and have answers to. My question is, and I think it was a little alluded to, was We started that audit before there were some really disturbing uses figured out that were happening in Dayton, Ohio, just down the street in Cleveland. Could you specifically say what Dayton and Cleveland found about the usage of their flock technology? After saying that, after being very similar to us, that of course we are not using it this way, but what did Dayton find? And my follow-up question to that, just to give you the next question is, And then how have we changed what we are searching and auditing to see? Like what are we expecting to find knowing what Dayton found two weeks ago?

Right. Yeah. So I'm, uh, probably more prepared to talk about Dayton and Cleveland, uh, just because the day after that broke, I got in contact with the, the new major that's in charge of Dayton support, uh, services area. Um, who kind of spotted the issue for them and is trying to remedy it, just to see exactly that. What did they find? And essentially what it boiled down to is they found, particularly over last summer, there were federal agencies. So, for example, for a while U.S. Border Patrol had its own instance of U.S. flock. So they were a federal agency inside of flock. I do not believe they are any longer. Um, same thing with, uh, Homeland security investigations, which is a, uh, it's a sub organization within the department of Homeland Homeland security. They also had their own instance of flock during that time period. And so what they found, uh, were a couple of different things. One, those agencies were searching across their sensors. Although, let me be very clear about that. what that means is just that the search that say border patrol or, or whoever else did searched among probably thousands and thousands of sensors, the ones for that agency. Um, when that happens, that's, that's why it appears on an auto log. So it's not necessarily the case that those searches, you know, were specific to that jurisdiction. Uh, so, you know, today, if, somebody in Texas does a nationwide network search in the flock system, that search will appear in our audit log because among the many, many sources of data that it's querying, it would query our deployment of flock as well. So they found that and then they did find instances where when they scrutinized the reason for the search, there were instances where people put in immigration and things of that nature. So that component of it would not happen in Columbus today because as of December, we implemented those internal filters. And so if we spotted somebody putting immigration as the reason for the search, that would be a failure of that filter. Haven't seen that yet, but open to the possibility.

Well, thank you again. And why this is important to even folks who maybe are not as concerned about how ACE is using it, but we've seen, like we said, in Texas where folks were using this to search women's reproductive rights information. So again, apologize that we had a baby public hearing in the middle of a council meeting, but do not apologize for a deep conversation around privacy and safety and that this is council's legislative role, is oversight and safety of our residents. And so We look forward to that hearing. So it sounds like we'll be here for a lot longer. But thank you so much for your leadership.

Thank you, Council President. So before we move forward on Ordinance 122526, I want to make it clear to everyone listening that this council has heard their concerns raised by residents and advocates, and we share those concerns. So technology has to be matched by responsible oversight, clear policies, transparency, and accountability. That is what this council owes to the residents of Columbus, and that is the standard I intend to continue pushing for as chair of public safety and criminal justice. With that, I am going to read the ordinance. It's 12-25-2026. To authorize the director of the Department of Public Safety to enter into contract with Sound Thinking, formerly ShotSpotter, Inc., for the use of a gunfire detection alert and analysis program to authorize reimbursement of expenses prior to the creation of the purchase order. to waive the competitive bidding provisions of the Columbus City Code to authorize the expenditure of $661,500 from the general fund and to declare an emergency. A bid waiver is requested due to an established relationship and existing technology in place that interface with police equipment. Emergency action is requested to provide immediate continuity to the gunfire detection program. Although the previous conversations mostly focused on flock, I understand that this technology has been of interest to my colleagues, and that's why we had that conversation tonight. I believe there are much fewer conversations about this particular technology, and I'm prepared to vote yes. So if there's no more questions or comments from my colleagues, I move for passage by voice. Second.

Clerk, please call the roll by voice.

Bankston. Yes. Barroso-Deputia. Yes. Dayakari. Yes. Dorrance. Yes. Green. Yes. Remy? Yes. Ross? Yes. Weish? Yes. President Hardin? Yes.

Ordinance is passed.

Thank you very much. Next is 1220, excuse me, 1255-2026 to authorize the Director of Public Safety to enter into a three-year contract with the Franklin County Sheriff's Office for the purpose of collection of DNA and fingerprints as required under Section 109.60 of the Ohio Revised Code and to declare an emergency. Emergency action is needed to continue vital fingerprint DNA services to ensure compliance with the RISE code and to assist in the investigation and adjudication of serious crimes. Are there any questions or comments from my colleagues? Seeing none, I move for passage.

Clerk, please call the roll. Bankston, Barroso de Padilla, de Alcarver, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitsch, President Pro Tem, Dorrance. Board is passed.

Next is 1257-2026 to authorize and direct the Director of Public Safety to enter into a one-year contract for helicopter maintenance with Thoroughbred Aviation Maintenance Inc. for the Division of Police to authorize the expenditure of $1,473,206 from the general fund and to declare an emergency. This contract is for the repair and maintenance of the city's helicopter fleet in order to keep the aircraft up to aviation standards. An emergency is needed to ensure the helicopter fleet maintains operational readiness. Are there any questions or comments from my colleagues? Seeing none, I move for passage.

Clerk, please call the roll. Bankston, Boros de Padilla, de Alcarra, Green, Remy, Ross, Weiss, President Pro, Tim, Dorrance. The court is passed.

Next is 1435-2026 to authorize the Director of the Department of Public Safety to enter into contract with Ademi, I should have pronounced, Ademi Identity and Security, USA LLC, to continue payments for the upgraded automated fingerprint identification system for the Division of Police in accordance with the sole source provisions of the Columbus City Code, to authorize the expenditure $1,075,767 from the general fund and to declare an emergency. This ordinance authorized the final year of payments to IDEMIA for the Columbus Division of Police upgraded automated fingerprint identification system, which supports fingerprint identification investigative work. Half the costs will be reimbursed by Franklin County. Emergency action is necessary to continue operation of a system that is critical to public safety's work. Are there any questions or comments from my colleagues? Seeing none, I move for passage.

Clerk, clerk, please call the roll.

Bankston, Barroso de Padilla, de Acara, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitz, President Perot, Tim, Dorrance. Ordinance passed.

Next is 1435-2026 to authorize the Director of the Department of Public Safety to enter into contract with Motorola Solutions doing business as Vigilant Solutions for the purchase of commercial license subscriptions for the investigative data platform to waive the competitive bidding provisions. of the Columbus City Code to authorize an expenditure of $103,990 from the general fund and to declare an emergency. A bid waiver is requested because the city uses this software already and peer agencies use similar Motorola licenses and because that overlap between agencies allows Columbus police to share information as crime crosses between multiple jurisdictions. Emergency action is needed so the police can continue sensitive urgent investigations using this tool. Are there any questions or comments from my colleagues? Seeing none, I move for passage.

Clerk, please call the roll. Bankston, Barroso de Padilla, de Alcarra, Green, Remy, Ross, Weitz, President Perot, Tim Dorrance. Board is passed.

Thank you very much. That's all we have tonight.

The next committee to come before council is the Housing, Homelessness, and Building Committee, chaired by Council Member Ross. Council Member Ross, floor is yours.

Thank you, President Pro Tem Dorrance. I have a whopping one ordinance from the Housing, Homelessness, and Building Committee. Good thing. It is ordinance number 1356-2026 to authorize the Director of Development to enter into a grant agreement with Columbus Franklin County Finance Authority in an amount up to $5 million who will act as a pass-through entity with Barthman Family Homes LLC in support of the development of 150 units of new affordable apartment homes with the Barthman Family Homes Project to authorize the appropriation of funds within the income set aside sub fund and the affordable housing bond fund, to authorize the transfer of cash between the income tax set aside sub fund and the affordable housing bond fund, to authorize the expenditure in an amount of up to $5 million within the affordable housing bond fund, to authorize the reimbursement of expenditures incurred prior to the establishment of a purchase order January 1st, 2024, and to declare an emergency. The Barsman family homes will consist of 150 affordable apartment home projects units that range from one bedroom to four bedroom apartment units. These homes will serve individuals and families earning 60% of the area meeting income. Residents will benefit from amenities such as a fitness center, business center, playground, and package concierge, along with convenient access to public transit on South High Street, connecting them to groceries, healthcare, schools, parks, and more. If there are no comments or questions from my colleagues, I will move for passage.

Clerk, please call the roll. Bankston, Rosa de Padilla, De Alcarra-Green, Remy, Ross, Weitsch, President Pro Tem, Dorns. Ordinance passed.

Thank you, Council Member. Next Committee for Council is the Public Utilities and Sustainability Committee. And closing us out tonight, bringing us home, will be Council Member Weitsch.

Always doing the hard work at the end here. First, I have 813-2026 to authorize the Director of the Department of Public Utilities to modify and increase the contract with B.B. of Design LLC for the space planning study project to appropriate funds in the Department of Development Operating Fund to authorize an expenditure of up to $754,633 from the Sanitary Operating Fund and the Department of Development Operating Fund to pay for the contract modification. I move to refer this ordinance to Housing, Homelessness and Building Committee.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Bankston, Barroso de Padilla, de Alcarra, Green, Remy, Ross, Weiss, President Pro Tem, Dorrance.

Refer to committee. Thank you. Next I have 948-2026 to authorize the Director of the Department of Public Utilities to enter into a contract for general engineering services with DLZ Ohio Incorporated and with Evans, Meckwert, Hamilton, Tilton Incorporated to authorize an amendment to the 2025 capital improvement budget to authorize a transfer of cash and appropriation between projects within the water bond fund to authorize an expenditure of up to a million dollars from the water bond fund for the contract and to declare an emergency. This contract will provide general engineering services to the Division of Water, enabling it to perform miscellaneous engineering tasks on an as-needed basis. Emergency designation is requested as some outstanding tasks are waiting to be assigned to this contract in order to ensure continued uninterrupted water supply for residents. I'm going to stop there and see if any questions or comments from my colleagues. Seeing none, I move for passage. Thank you.

Clerk, please call the roll. Bankston, Barroso de Padilla, de Alcarra, Green, Remy, Ross, Weiss, President Pro Tem, Dorrance.

Thank you. Next I have 1184-2026 to authorize the director of public utilities to modify and increase a professional engineering services contract with Hill International for the professional construction management services 2020 contract to authorize an amendment to the 2025 capital improvement budget to authorize the appropriation of funds within the water fresh water market rate program fund to transfer cash and appropriation between projects within the water bond fund to authorize the director of of public utilities to apply for Ohio Water Development Authority freshwater loans and to execute any documents needed to accept the loans to make this ordinance contingent upon the Ohio Water Development Authority approving the loans and to authorize an expenditure of up to $4,250,200 from the Water Bond Fund and the Water Fresh Market Rate Program Fund to pay for the contract modification. This contract assists the city with managing and overseeing numerous capital improvement projects. These projects maintain and upgrade treatment facilities to provide a safe, reliable water supply to Central Ohio area. Let me stop there and see if there are any questions or comments from my colleagues. Seeing none, I move for passage.

Okay.

Clerk, please go to the roll. Bankston, Barroso de Padilla, de Alcarra, Green, Remy, Ross, White, President Pro, Tim Dorrance.

Ordinance passed. Thank you. Next, I have 1320-2026. to authorize the Director of Public Utilities to apply for, accept, and enter into up to 28 water supply revolving account loan agreements with the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Ohio Water Development Authority during the program year 2027 for the design and or construction of water distribution and supply system improvements and to designate a repayment source for the loans. The water supply revolving loan account program provides below market interest rate loans for municipal water system improvements These loans will fund up to 28 water system improvement projects throughout the city and will be paid off with water service fees. I'm going to stop there and see if there are any questions or comments from my colleagues. Seeing none, I move for passage.

Second.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Bankston, Barroso de Padilla, de Acara, Green, Remy, Ross, Weiss, President Perot, Tim Dorns.

Ordinance passed. Thank you. Next, I have Ordinance 1328-2026 to authorize the Director of Public Utilities to enter into a construction contract with the Reiter Company incorporated for the Wilson Bridge Booster Station Improvements Project to authorize an amendment to the 2025 capital improvement budget to appropriate funds within the Water Fresh Water Market Rate Fund to make this ordinance contingent upon the Ohio Water Development Authority approving a loan for this project to authorize the expenditure of up to $1,285,050 from the Water Fresh Water Market Rate Fund to pay for the project and to authorize the expenditure of up to $2,000 from the Water Bond Fund to pay for prevailing wage services. This project will replace aging pumps and valves inside a booster station within the water distribution system. This work will extend the life of the booster station and prepare for future demand in the area. I'm going to stop there and see if any questions or comments from my colleagues. Seeing none, I move for passage. Second.

Clerk, please call the roll. Bankston, Barroso, de Padilla, de Alcarra, Green, Remy, Ross, White, President Pro, Tim Dorrance.

Thank you. And last, I have 1332-2026. To authorize the Director of Columbus Water and Power, to modify service contracts with ABEX Limited, Davie Resource Group, 4K Landscaping LLC, and Watershed Organic Lawn Care LLC, and to authorize the expenditure total of $2,149,496.76, $2 million from the Storm Sewer Operating Fund, and $149,496.76 from the Water Operating Fund, and to declare an emergency. This ordinance provides for the inspection and maintenance of rain gardens and watersheds. This work is critical to ensure that they remove, treat stormwater, thus mitigating street flooding and improving drainage throughout the city. Emergency designation is requested as is ideal to get ahead on green infrastructure maintenance prior to the summer growth. Let me stop there, see if there are any questions or comments from my colleagues. Seeing none, I move for passage.

Second.

Clerk, please call the roll.

Bankston Barossa de Padilla de Acara green Remy Ross white president pro Tim Doran's ordinance passed That is all I have for my community.

Thank you councilmember See no further business come for counselors the motion to adjourn Clerk please call the roll Bankston Barossa de Padilla de Acara green Remy Ross white president pro Tim Doran's Thank you. We are adjourned. We do have

around us.

still ahead, and we recommit ourselves to building a city where every person can live openly, safely, and without fear. So as we begin this Pride Month, let us celebrate how far we've come, let's honor those who have helped lead the way, and let's continue the work of creating a city where every person knows they are valued. It is now my pleasure to introduce the Mayor of the City of Columbus, Mayor Andrew Ginther.

Thank you, Mr. President. What a great evening here in the city of Columbus. A great night for us to come together and say, Happy Pride, Columbus. So great to be back here with all of you tonight to light up City Hall and to kick off Pride Month in Ohio's capital city. It's always inspiring when we come together as a community to honor generations of trailblazers who have stood up for what's right. Their courage, perseverance have helped to shape the more equitable and inclusive world we strive for today. And we recognize and celebrate these transformative achievements. The thriving community of LGBTQ plus residents right here in Columbus and those across this country and the world have done the work that brought us to where we are now. But it's not enough. As we enter this pride season, we must acknowledge that the progress made is under attack. In the past five years, we've gone backwards. Across the country, there have been many new bills introduced in state legislatures that directly target LGBTQ plus Americans, and especially our transgender brothers and sisters, impacting students, athletes, military service members, and teachers. In the arenas of healthcare, bathroom access, legal recognition, marriage, and even visibility itself. And these legislators have the nerve to say that none of this constitutes discrimination. This hatred should not be tolerated. Another generation is growing up watching politicians debate whether their existence should be legal in the first place, while public harassment, and state sponsored discrimination become realities once again. I believe those in power should uplift and unify, not judge people simply for being who they are. I think we should all work together to build a more compassionate and hopeful future for everyone. Vilifying people for simply living their lives is not just a political maneuver. It is potentially a life threatening act of cruelty. This is not who we are. This is not what Columbus stands for. We stand united in our commitment to justice, equality, and dignity for all people. We reject bigotry and fear. We say no one should be targeted or excluded for who they are or whom they love. To our LGBTQ plus community, you should know this. You are seen, you are heard, you are valued, and you are loved. Columbus is your home, and we will continue to protect that home from hate and intolerance. If they're coming for you, they gotta go through us. We stand firmly. We stand firmly against harmful laws and policies targeting our children, our youth, our families. So this Pride Month, let us honor the strength, diversity, and boundless love that defines the LGBTQ plus community. Let it be a time of celebration and renewed, resolved. A time to stand together, uplift one another, and carry forward the torch of equality and hope. There are many great things I get to do as mayor, but one of the coolest is issuing proclamations. So I'd like to ask Denzel Porius and the team from Stonewall to join me up here so that we can do this right and proclaim June as Pride Month in the city of Columbus. All right, hold it up. One, two, three, Stonewall.

Awesome.

Thank you guys. Thanks for your service. We appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you. And next, I have to bring up the dynamic, the wonderful, the incredible, Leader, partner, someone who is, I learn something from every time we're together.

The irreplaceable Chris Cozad.

Give it up.

Thank you, Andy. Thank you everybody for being here. Here we are again. It's pride. I think I have spoken at almost every one of these. But I want to also acknowledge Mark and Brent and the tragedy that we all lived with through this. And Brent has to live with it for the rest of his life. He's a long term member of the chorus, a long term friend of mine, and a long term member of our community.