Columbus City Council Approves $2.5 Million for Storm Repairs Amid Clash With Mayor Ginther

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The sources and records behind this story, with the facts they support.

1. https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/columbus-councilmembers-mayor-playing-politics-224221225.html

   www.yahoo.com

   Accessed October 5, 2026

   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.

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     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.

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     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.

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     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.

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     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.

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     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.

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     "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.

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     "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.

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     "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.

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     "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.

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     "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.

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     "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.

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     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,"