New Council districts approved for 2023
$5.75M police settlement, OSU tax incentive OK’D
The Columbus City Council on Monday selected one of three new district maps drafted by a citizen commission that outlines where members will have to reside starting with the 2023 election in order to spread representation across the city.
The city council also approved another multimillion-dollar court settlement rather than go to trial to defend city police officers against allegations of abusive force used against racial-injustice protesters in 2020, including the use of wooden pellets and excessive pepper spray. A $5.75 million check from the city’s general fund will be paid to a group of 32 plaintiffs to settle a federal civil rights lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Columbus. A federal judge is expected to give final approval to close the case.
“We’re getting close to $17 million, literally, in the last 13 months,” Council President Shannon Hardin said, adding that’s more money than is spent to run a couple of city departments added together.
In approving Map A from the three choices presented by the Council Residential District Commission, the council recognized that some citizens – particularly those affiliated with area commissions that represent various neighborhoods – were not happy with the final council residential districts because they felt it lumped them with areas of town in which they had little in common. Council members tried to put fears to rest by reminding residents it really doesn’t matter which district you live in.
That’s because, as a member of council, “you live in that district, but you represent everyone” in the entire city,
Council member Priscilla Tyson said. “This is really about the (council) person living there.”
Here is a reference map that allows Columbus residents to fill in their address and look through multiple layers to view all iterations of the map from the beginning of its creation up to the third round: https://bit.ly/3e1vgfc. Note: The final map is expected to be added to the tool within a few days of city council’s selection at Monday’s meeting.
The new districts are not voting wards from which council members would be elected to represent the inter
ests of just those residents. Instead, every city resident will still be able to vote for every member of council, which will be expanded from seven to nine members.
The districts can’t be gerrymandered, because they don’t determine who gets to vote for a member, as every council member will still be elected “at-large,” officials reminded.
The purpose of the districts are to “bring geographic diversity” to the council by ensuring that residents from across the city are seated on the body, while not dividing the city into voting precincts, Hardin said.
“At the end of the day, I’m OK with all three maps,” Hardin said. “Whichever map we pick will be a good map.”
But some of the public comments left on the council website showed that not everyone liked it.
“The Westland area does not belong in the same district as the Hilltop,” one commenter said. “Westland is suburban and has different issues than the Hilltop, which is urban.”
“Glen Echo Neighborhood is sliced between (council) District D and District F,” said another commenter. “It should be in one district.”
While some residents may feel the elected representative from their district doesn’t live in their neighborhood, “it provides people a place to start” when they have an issue to discuss with a member of council, said Council member Emmanuel Remy. “But, by golly, it doesn’t make a difference because you still have nine people who are going to come and advocate on your behalf.”
Still to be determined is whether the map will have a practical consequence in who gets elected, based on a candidate’s residency.
For example, it wasn’t immediately clear late Monday whether the map would force any of the current council members into the same district, meaning they would have to run against each other in a race that only one could win. If no one ran for election from a given council district, one will be appointed by a vote of the rest of elected members.
The new system was an outgrowth of a movement in 2016 that attempted to break the city into 13 voting wards, where each member of council would be selected solely by residents of their wards. Voters shot down that ballot measure overwhelmingly, though only 9% of eligible voters participated in that special election.
The organizers of the 2016 ward plan charged that city officials routinely ignored their demands for city action against drug dealers, traffic plans and other issues. In 2018, voters approved the city-backed change to its charter to create the new residency maps and expanding the council’s seats by two new members.
In settling the lawsuit dealing with police violence against protesters, City Attorney Zach Klein told council members that the total amount that will be paid to the plaintiffs’ attorneys is expected to be in the seven-figure range and will remain secret, along with how much a court master will award to each of the 32 plaintiffs based on factors such as the extent of their injuries.
The plaintiffs claimed they sustained injuries, including broken bones, from police use of wooden bullets, pepper spray, tear gas and other less-lethal weapons during protests that sometimes resulted in rioting and vandalism in May and June 2020. The protests began three days after the death of George Floyd Jr., a Black man who was murdered while being arrested by Minneapolis police on May 25, 2020. Former Officer Derek Chauvin was later convicted of murder in Floyd’s death, and the three other officers on scene were also facing charges.
Hardin said officer accountability – including city policies prohibiting routine use of pepper spray and other police force tactics against peaceful protesters or the city will face federal sanctions – has to be foremost on the agenda of the leadership of the city Department of Public Safety. The department and Division of Police in particular have to be held to a higher standard, he said, “because truly we cannot afford not to at this point.”
Klein said that if the city failed to settle the lawsuit, the plaintiffs were likely to name more officers in the case, bringing the total to as high as 70, each of which would have to be appointed legal representation paid by the city.
“Therefore, the financial exposure to the city in not settling this case” is significant in both defense and plaintiff’s attorney’s fees, Klein said.
In February, the council agreed to pay $1,025,000 to the family of Donna Castleberry, a woman killed by an undercover Columbus police officer in 2018. In May, the council approved what is believed to be the largest settlement in city history: $10 million to the family of Andre Hill, an unarmed Black man fatally shot by former Columbus police officer Adam Coy in December 2020. Coy is facing criminal charges in that case.
In other business Monday, the council approved an economic incentives package for Ohio State University to develop the Innovation District, a special new research and development zone that the university says could create 12,000 new jobs over the coming decades.
“Ohio State’s innovation district is the place where thinkers and doers will converge to solve complex challenges,” the university says on its website.
The city is offering multiple tax breaks to the university, which also can be extended to private employers who locate on the West Campus development, bounded roughly by Kenny, North Star and Kinnear roads and Lane Avenue, officials said. The main incentive is being paid 40% of their new employers’ city income taxes.
The deal also involves the creation of a new city tax-increment financing (TIF) district for Ohio State to help subsidize the new development in association with Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Jobsohio. TIFS allow property taxes to be diverted to pay for qualified expenses, such as new streets, sewers and utilities.
According to the city, Ohio State plans to spend $3 billion to $4 billion in capital investments within the Innovation District over 20 to 30 years. That includes 4 million to 6 million square feet of laboratory and commercial office space, up to 500,000 square feet for medical building, 1,500 to 2,000 residential units, 100,000 to 200,000 square feet of retail space, and a 180- to 220-bed hotel. wbush@gannett.com @Reporterbush