Yesterday Mayor Andrew J. Ginther and other city and community leaders announced $3.5 million in American Rescue Plan funding to support working families and address critical labor shortages in the child care industry. Initiatives receiving funds include signing bonuses, a competitive marketing campaign to help attract new teachers and affordability scholarships targeting working-class families and female trade workers and small-business owners.

Read the press release here.

The class of 21 cadets includes 16 cadets of color and 8 women, totaling 90 percent diversity. The Fire Cadet Program is a two-year paid internship program created to introduce underrepresented communities to careers in the fire service. Diversifying the city’s safety forces is a top priority of Mayor Ginther and Fire Chief Jeffrey Happ.

From the first two cadet classes, 5 are now sworn CFD firefighters, 9 are in current Recruit Class 113, 5 will be in Recruit Class 114 (starting in December) and 6 are working in EMS.

This year, Sept. 8 marked Native Women’s Equal Pay Day, or the day Native American women must work, on average, into the new year to earn what their white male counterparts made in the previous year. This represents over eight additional months of work to earn the same pay as their male co-workers in one year. This is a harsh reality both for Native women and their families, especially during the COVID-19 crisis, which disproportionately impacts women of color.

Before the pandemic, Native women working full-time, year-round were paid just 60.0 cents on the dollar paid to White men nationally in 2019. This disparity adds up to a loss of $24,000 per year, on average, for Native women and their families.

Go Deeper:

• The Wage Gap is Leaving Native Women Behind
• A Decade with No Improvement: Native Women and the Wage Gap

There are just two major industries where there are now more women on payroll than there were before the COVID-19 pandemic; construction and utilities. Last month, in August 2021, IWPR’s analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistic showed that there were 1.026 million women on employer payrolls in the construction industry, 30,000 more than in February 2020. The statistics also showed that men’s jobs declined slightly over the same period, from 6.65 million to 6.39 million, and women’s jobs in utilities grew by 1,300.

Read more

Go Deeper:

• It's Time to Close Apprenticeship's Long-overlooked Equity Gaps
• Women Are Underrepresented In The Trades Industry (NPR)
• Infrastructure Bill Could Expand Opportunities for Women

On September 3, 2021, Mayor Andrew J. Ginther announced the appointment of Robert Clark as the Director of Public Safety.

A former Youngstown, OH police officer, Clark spent much of his career working with the U.S. Department of Justice FBI Los Angeles Field Office as an assistant special agent in charge. He led more than 350 agents and task force officers from ten agencies focused on disrupting gangs, drug cartels and violent crime. He also collaborated with community leaders to build a youth outreach and intervention program to mentor young people living and going to school in neighborhoods plagued by crime.

Click here to read the press release

Go Deeper:

• Learn more about the Reimagine Public Safety initiative here.
• Read City Council’s final report on Reimagine Public Safety 
• Participate in a Police Officer Background Standards Review Focus Group (see below)

As part of the City of Columbus’ reimagining public safety efforts, we want public input on what background standards are important and appropriate for those individuals selected for a Police Officer position.  Currently, these standards cover areas including honesty, family history, employment, criminal activity, illegal substances, and others previously determined important when evaluating potential Police Officer hires.

The current standards were developed and have been updated throughout the years with important public and stakeholder input.  However, it’s important to ensure these standards remain relevant and appropriate, so a complete review of the standards is being conducted beginning this month.

As seen in the video below, the Civil Service Commission will be holding three focus group sessions on Saturday, September 25. Seating is limited, so if you’re interested in being a part of this important work, please contact Wendy Brinnon at the Civil Service Commission’s administrative offices at (614) 645-7531 to confirm session times, locations, and available seating.  

Click here to learn more.

To help ensure the equitable distribution of rental assistance to residents adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, Mayor Andrew J. Ginther and Columbus City Councilmember Shayla Favor announced the award of $12.2 million to 26 community organizations through the city’s Stable Housing Initiative. The initiative will fund rental assistance, supportive services and targeted outreach to hard-to-reach Columbus residents who have not yet accessed emergency rental assistance available to them.

Click here to learn more.

View the first draft of the Council Residential District Map. Within this online tool, residents are able to focus on a hyper-local level to view district boundaries and provide feedback that will be shared directly with the CRDC.

The CRDC will continue open, public meetings. Residents are encouraged to follow Council's social media channels and further emails for information on future events and map releases as they take place. The main places to watch will be on Facebook Live or on the City of Columbus' YouTube channel, where you can watch all past public meetings.

Council will approve one of three final draft maps produced by the CRDC by the end of 2021, and the districts will be in place for the 2023 Columbus City Council election cycle. 

For more information, visit www.columbus.gov/districtingcommission or email crdc@columbus.gov. 

Mayor Andrew J. Ginther is asking residents to nominate new candidates for the Columbus Hall of Fame. For years, the Columbus Hall of Fame has honored outstanding individuals who, through exemplary accomplishments, have gained national recognition for themselves and have brought credit to this city.  

Please email recommendations to Mel Crabill, MJCrabill@columbus.gov, by September 30, 2021

View list of past recipients here  

A seven-month study exploring early childhood education finds Franklin County lagging behind the nation in enrollment and significant differences in the experiences children have at home compared to out-of-home care settings. Click here to read the full report.

Please give a warm welcome to our new intern, Abigayl Cochran! 

Abigayl Cochran, is a third year Public Management, Leadership and Policy major participating in the Ohio Government Internship Program through the Glenn College. Abigayl is from Miamisburg, a suburb of Dayton, Ohio. With a passion for local government, Abigayl is excited to learn as much as possible in real-world job experiences as she prepares for graduation in May.