Columbus City Council Approves $2.5 Million for Storm Repairs Amid Clash With Mayor Ginther
Councilmembers rebuked Mayor Andrew Ginther for accusing them of stalling park restorations ahead of the 2027 mayoral race.
Columbus City Council voted unanimously on Monday, Oct. 5, to approve $2.5 million in emergency funds to repair storm damage across four municipal recreation sites council vote. The measure retroactively covers an emergency executive order signed on Aug. 31 by Mayor Andrew Ginther following severe weather and tornadoes on Aug. 11 that tore through central Ohio repairs order.
The funding covers cleanup, drying, and stabilization at the South Side's Barack Recreation Center, Busch Park, Berliner Park, and the Fran Ryan Center four parks. Winds tore off parts of Barack's roof, inundating ceilings and mechanical rooms. Under current municipal projections, Barack is scheduled to complete structural roof repairs and interior restoration to reopen in spring 2027. The city may eventually recoup some repair costs, as Franklin County is among seven Ohio counties approved for federal disaster aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency fema aid.
Emergency Remediation Versus Capital Requests
Monday's vote highlighted an escalating dispute over municipal infrastructure spending. While the $2.5 million allocation addresses urgent post-storm remediation across the four parks, Ginther has pushed council to approve a separate $5 million appropriation for Barack included in his proposed 2026 capital budget capital budget request.
On Sept. 30, Ginther held a press conference outside the damaged facility, urging council members to pass the capital budget and criticizing what he called legislative delays.
Council members pushed back sharply during Monday's meeting, arguing the mayor confused emergency cleanup with broader capital borrowing.
"Conflating tonight's legislation on remediation and mitigation at several facilities with the 2026 capital budget makes no sense," said Councilmember Nancy Day-Achauer, who chairs the Neighborhoods, Recreation, and Parks Committee day-achauer conflating. "The mayor should do better than use a natural disaster to play political games."
Day-Achauer accused Ginther of using the damaged recreation center as a "political prop," noting emergency remediation was already underway under his executive order.
"This could have been an example of good governance where elected officials came together to address the aftermath of a natural disaster," Day-Achauer said good governance. "Instead, the mayor has used it to attack council members and try to remake his image as a Rec and Parks hero."
Councilmembers Lourdes Barroso de Padilla and Melissa Green also rebuked the administration's public messaging.
"It just makes it confusing when we're not factual about where dollars go," Barroso de Padilla said barroso de padilla.
Green called the mayor's remarks disappointing. "It was disingenuous," Green said green statement. "It was misleading, as it was intended to be."
Mayoral Response and Budget Scrutiny
The mayoral administration rejected the criticism, linking the dispute to political maneuvering ahead of the 2027 municipal election, in which City Council President Shannon Hardin is running against Ginther for mayor. Day-Achauer told a reporter before Monday's meeting that she believes Hardin would do a better job as mayor.
"It is difficult to take accusations of political motivation seriously when the criticism was made in the context of a mayoral endorsement," said Randy Borntrager, Ginther's deputy chief of staff for communications borntrager endorsement. Borntrager added that council should focus on approving the capital budget to "finish this work, reopen Barack to the community as soon as possible, and move forward with the other critical investments Columbus residents deserve and demand" borntrager demand.
City Council plans to examine municipal debt and capital spending before considering the capital budget. Councilmember Nick Bankston announced Monday that the council's Finance Committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Oct. 19 at 9 a.m. to review bond sales, capital projects, and operating budgets finance hearing.
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Columbus City Council voted unanimously on Monday, Oct. 5, to approve $2.5 million in emergency funds to repair storm damage across four municipal recreation sites council vote. The measure retroactively covers an emergency executive order signed on Aug. 31 by Mayor Andrew Ginther following severe weather and tornadoes on Aug. 11 that tore through central Ohio repairs order.
The funding covers cleanup, drying, and stabilization at the South Side's Barack Recreation Center, Busch Park, Berliner Park, and the Fran Ryan Center four parks. Winds tore off parts of Barack's roof, inundating ceilings and mechanical rooms. Under current municipal projections, Barack is scheduled to complete structural roof repairs and interior restoration to reopen in spring 2027. The city may eventually recoup some repair costs, as Franklin County is among seven Ohio counties approved for federal disaster aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency fema aid.
Emergency Remediation Versus Capital Requests
Monday's vote highlighted an escalating dispute over municipal infrastructure spending. While the $2.5 million allocation addresses urgent post-storm remediation across the four parks, Ginther has pushed council to approve a separate $5 million appropriation for Barack included in his proposed 2026 capital budget capital budget request.
On Sept. 30, Ginther held a press conference outside the damaged facility, urging council members to pass the capital budget and criticizing what he called legislative delays.
Council members pushed back sharply during Monday's meeting, arguing the mayor confused emergency cleanup with broader capital borrowing.
"Conflating tonight's legislation on remediation and mitigation at several facilities with the 2026 capital budget makes no sense," said Councilmember Nancy Day-Achauer, who chairs the Neighborhoods, Recreation, and Parks Committee day-achauer conflating. "The mayor should do better than use a natural disaster to play political games."
Day-Achauer accused Ginther of using the damaged recreation center as a "political prop," noting emergency remediation was already underway under his executive order.
"This could have been an example of good governance where elected officials came together to address the aftermath of a natural disaster," Day-Achauer said good governance. "Instead, the mayor has used it to attack council members and try to remake his image as a Rec and Parks hero."
Councilmembers Lourdes Barroso de Padilla and Melissa Green also rebuked the administration's public messaging.
"It just makes it confusing when we're not factual about where dollars go," Barroso de Padilla said barroso de padilla.
Green called the mayor's remarks disappointing. "It was disingenuous," Green said green statement. "It was misleading, as it was intended to be."
Mayoral Response and Budget Scrutiny
The mayoral administration rejected the criticism, linking the dispute to political maneuvering ahead of the 2027 municipal election, in which City Council President Shannon Hardin is running against Ginther for mayor. Day-Achauer told a reporter before Monday's meeting that she believes Hardin would do a better job as mayor.
"It is difficult to take accusations of political motivation seriously when the criticism was made in the context of a mayoral endorsement," said Randy Borntrager, Ginther's deputy chief of staff for communications borntrager endorsement. Borntrager added that council should focus on approving the capital budget to "finish this work, reopen Barack to the community as soon as possible, and move forward with the other critical investments Columbus residents deserve and demand" borntrager demand.
City Council plans to examine municipal debt and capital spending before considering the capital budget. Councilmember Nick Bankston announced Monday that the council's Finance Committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Oct. 19 at 9 a.m. to review bond sales, capital projects, and operating budgets finance hearing.
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Supporting evidence (12)
Columbus City Council voted unanimously on Monday, Oct. 5, to approve $2.5 million in emergency funds to repair storm damage across four municipal recreation sites council vote.
Read supporting passage
City Council voted unanimously at the the Oct. 5 meeting to approve $2.5 million to retroactively pay for that emergency order.
The measure retroactively covers an emergency executive order signed on Aug. 31 by Mayor Andrew Ginther following severe weather and tornadoes on Aug. 11 that tore through central Ohio repairs order.
Read supporting passage
signed an emergency order at the end of August authorizing the city to immediately begin working on repairing Barack and three other Columbus Recreation and Parks locations that were damaged during the storms
The funding covers cleanup, drying, and stabilization at the South Side's Barack Recreation Center, Busch Park, Berliner Park, and the Fran Ryan Center four parks.
Read supporting passage
repairing Barack and three other Columbus Recreation and Parks locations that were damaged during the storms, Busch Park, Berliner Park, and the Fran Ryan Center.
The city may eventually recoup some repair costs, as Franklin County is among seven Ohio counties approved for federal disaster aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency fema aid.
Read supporting passage
Franklin County is one of seven counties which have received federal disaster aid approval from FEMA due to 17 tornadoes statewide and other severe weather in August.
While the $2.5 million allocation addresses urgent post-storm remediation across the four parks, Ginther has pushed council to approve a separate $5 million appropriation for Barack included in his proposed 2026 capital budget capital budget request.
Read supporting passage
where he pressured council to pass his 2026 capital budget proposal, which includes $5 million for renovating Barack.
"Conflating tonight's legislation on remediation and mitigation at several facilities with the 2026 capital budget makes no sense," said Councilmember Nancy Day-Achauer, who chairs the Neighborhoods, Recreation, and Parks Committee day-achauer conflating.
Read supporting passage
"Conflating tonight's legislation on remediation and mitigation at several facilities with the 2026 capital budget makes no sense ... The mayor should do better than use a natural disaster to play political games."
"This could have been an example of good governance where elected officials came together to address the aftermath of a natural disaster," Day-Achauer said good governance.
Read supporting passage
"This could have been an example of good governance where elected officials came together to address the aftermath of a natural disaster," Day-Achauer said at City Council's Oct. 5 meeting. "Instead, the mayor has used it to attack council members and try to remake his image as a Rec and Parks hero."
"It just makes it confusing when we're not factual about where dollars go," Barroso de Padilla said barroso de padilla.
Read supporting passage
"It just makes it confusing when we're not factual about where dollars go," Barroso de Padilla said.
"It was disingenuous," Green said green statement.
Read supporting passage
"It was disingenuous," Green said. "It was misleading, as it was intended to be."
"It is difficult to take accusations of political motivation seriously when the criticism was made in the context of a mayoral endorsement," said Randy Borntrager, Ginther's deputy chief of staff for communications borntrager endorsement.
Read supporting passage
"It is difficult to take accusations of political motivation seriously when the criticism was made in the context of a mayoral endorsement."
Borntrager added that council should focus on approving the capital budget to "finish this work, reopen Barack to the community as soon as possible, and move forward with the other critical investments Columbus residents deserve and demand" borntrager demand.
Read supporting passage
"It is time for Council to focus on passing the capital budget so we can finish this work, reopen Barack to the community as soon as possible, and move forward with the other critical investments Columbus residents deserve and demand,"
Councilmember Nick Bankston announced Monday that the council's Finance Committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Oct. 19 at 9 a.m. to review bond sales, capital projects, and operating budgets finance hearing.
Read supporting passage
Councilmember Nick Bankston announced at the council meeting that the council's finance committee will host a hearing on Oct. 19 at 9 a.m. to discuss "numerous financial topics,"