A look at Key dates in bus depot legal battle
Special prosecutor to investigate Ginther call
A special prosecutor has been appointed to investigate an improper call by Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther to a judge regarding the city’s attempt to shutter an intercity bus depot opened by Greyhound and Baron’s bus lines on the West Side.
Ginther called Franklin County Municipal Court Environmental Judge Stephanie Mingo in early October, allegedly telling her that she should side with the city and shutter the depot.
Here are some key dates in the depot case:
● June 17, 2021: Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein files for a preliminary injunction before Franklin County Municipal Court Environmental Judge Stephanie Mingo to potentially shutter the longtime Greyhound bus terminal in downtown Columbus due to crime issues.
● July 3, 2021: Greyhound Lines Inc. agrees to hire additional security guards, avoiding the hearing.
● July 21, 2021: COTA announces it would buy the 2.45-acre bus station for “redevelopment,” ending the Downtown station for intercity bus service that had operated for over five decades. The public transit agency pays $9.5 million for the property.
● June 27, 2023: Greyhound announces it is opening a new depot at the site of a former gas station at 845 N. Wilson Road on Columbus’ West Side.
● July 9, 2023: The Dispatch reports that Hilltop neighbors living near the new bus depot are extremely upset with noise, traffic and crime that they contend it brought to area. Columbus mayoral candidate Joe Motil, running against Ginther, begins attacking Ginther’s administration for apparently signing off on plans for the depot that were submitted to city Building & Zoning Zoning Services.
● July 28, 2023: Ginther writes letter to Barons Bus, which is using the new depot along with Greybound, stating: “We intend to use every available tool to
force you to cease operations and relocate operations to a suitable site.”
● Aug. 3, 2023: The Dispatch reports that city gives bus companies 30 days to fix numerous code problems at the former gas station or face legal action.
● Aug. 30, 2023: The Dispatch reports that Klein, again, wants to have a hearing about shuttering the new bus station, as he had suggested with the Downtown station. Bus company officials respond that Ohio’s largest city could be left without intercity bus service.
● Aug. 31, 2023: Mingo schedules a status conference for Sept. 1, 2023, to effectively launch the proceedings for the new city lawsuit.
● Oct. 8, 2023: A man is fatally shot at the new bus station.
● Oct. 10, 2023: Columbus police identify shooting victim as Rhys Jones, 42. That same day, with weeks before the mayoral election, Ginther calls
Mingo and leaves a message that he needs to talk. She returns call and leaves message with her private cellphone number.
● Oct. 11, 2023: Ginther and Mingo speak about case before Mingo, according to the judge.
● Oct. 12, 2023: Mingo calls attorneys for city and bus companies into a conference and informs them of the call, but declines to name who the “elected official” was who had reached out to her and told her to do the “right thing” and shutter the new station.
● Nov. 7, 2023: Ginther defeats Motil by some 60,000 votes to gain another four-year term as mayor.
● Nov. 21, 2023: Judge Mingo reverses herself, agreeing with bus companies that she should identify the official to allow them to properly respond. Mingo says it was Ginther.
● Dec. 8, 2023: In court, an attorney for Barons Bus states publicly for the
first time that Ginther had called Mingo, and accuses the city of having unclean hands in its attempts to shutter the bus depot. Ginther’s call becomes public.
● Dec. 12, 2023: Mingo disqualifies herself from hearing the city’s case against the bus depot. The Ohio Supreme Court appoints Gary Dumm, a retired judge of the Circleville Municipal Court, to replace her, who sets a trial date for early March and urges the sides to discuss a settlement.
● Dec. 21, 2023: The Dispatch reports that Klein appoints a special prosecutor, Brad Nicodemus with the Whitehall City Attorney’s office, to investigate Ginther’s call to Mingo.
● Jan. 10, 2024: The Dispatch reports that Nicodemus’ contract was really signed by his former boss, nowwhitehall Mayor Michael T. Bivens, who considers himself a longtime friend of Ginther’s.