Columbus police helicopter on sale again after hold
Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther pulled the plug on a plan last spring by the city’s Department of Public Safety to sell one of the city police division’s helicopters and reduce its fleet to four, emails obtained by The Dispatch show.
And whether intended or not, the city may get more money from the delay.
The planned sale of the gently used Bell 407GXi helicopter, which has sat in a police helicopter unit hangar in the city’s Hilltop neighborhood for the last 30 months, got repeatedly overruled by the mayor’s staff, despite keen interest from potential buyers and a hot resale market at the time, emails show.
The helicopter’s sale was part of a plan to quiet criticism of the chopper program by residents and members of City Council, who objected to the noise, cost and militarized feel of the aviation tool.
“We’re trying to be responsive to the public,” George Speaks, deputy director of the Department of Public Safety, said last May in explaining why officials were selling the Bell.
But less than a week later,
Speaks was informing his staff in an email that “the ordinance to hire a broker to sell the Bell is being delayed for now.” Other emails show the delay came directly from Ginther’s staff, but never indicated what the holdup was about.
The sale would reverse a 2019 decision to shift from the Division of Police aviation unit exclusively flying another make of helicopter, McDonnell Douglas, which it’s used since 1996, to Bell helicopters, a switch that was to be phased in over a decade.
“Any update on the sale of the Bell 407?” a lieutenant in the aviation unit emailed Speaks last June, informing him that a broker had been reaching out with potential buyers.
Speaks forwarded the email to Ginther’s Deputy Chief of Staff Kate Pishotti, who responded: “Still staying put.”
“We are still on hold,” Speaks then replied to the lieutenant.
In August, Public Safety Director Robert Clark — who announced April 4 he was leaving for another job
in Philadelphia — emailed Pishotti that “we are awaiting a decision by the Mayor’s Office to move forward with a sale.” Clark pointed out that the city stood to make more from a sale than it paid for the Bell 407GXi helicopter, funds that could be put toward planned equipment upgrades to the four remaining helicopters.
“Given all this, can we move the conversation forward in support (of ) placing the Bell on the market for immediate sale?” Clark wrote. “… It would seem prudent to move forward to take full advantage of the sellers’ market.”
“Director: We are not moving forward with the sale right now,” Pishotti responded within two hours, giving no reason.
“Copy. Thank you,” Clark quickly emailed back.
By October 2022, a broker estimated that the resale value of the city’s Bell 407GXi had gone up by another $200,000 from an estimate six months earlier, to a new estimated total of $4.1 million. The increase was due to low inventory of used helicopters for sale. The city stood to make $700,000 on the transaction.
“Not trying to be a pest, but I have a major, chief deputy and undersheriff advocating for the aircraft,” an aviation maintenance officer with the Orange County (Florida) Sheriff ’s Office emailed an official in the Columbus police aviation unit.
But in January, no one from the Columbus Department of Public Safety or the Division of Police would tell The Dispatch why the city hadn’t yet begun the process of selling the Bell.
After The Dispatch later filed a request under the Ohio Public Records Act for emails and other documents containing information on the status of the Bell helicopter, city officials said the sale was suddenly back on track.
An ordinance to hire a broker is advancing to City Council, officials said.
“It was determined the timing wasn’t right,” Robin Davis, another deputy chief of staff to Ginther, explained in an email about the decision to hold off on the morethan $4 million deal last fall.
“We took the time required to ensure the highest return, to invest the proceeds into technology to upgrade the fleet, and to determine how to best maintain the size of our fleet,” Davis said. “The result is a plan that will deploy the right number of the right helicopter, utilizing the best technology.”
The city of Columbus has budgeted a total of $4,771,528 for police aviation unit costs in 2023, including more than $1.19 million for maintenance, $400,000 for fuel, more than $2.47 million for 17 officer/pilots, $504,597 for three sergeant/pilots and $194,967 for the lieutenant pilot who heads the unit. All of the personnel costs include benefits and insurance.
By comparison, The Dispatch reported in 2020 that the five-chopper operation, including the Bell, and the same total 21 pilots cost taxpayers $6.55 million.