OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Columbus City Council Reorganization Meeting – December 15, 2025

City Council — Monday, December 8, 2025
BodyColumbus, Ohio
SessionCity Council
DateMonday, December 8, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:01

May I have a motion to reconvene regular meeting 61 from December 15th, 2025?

0:07

Clerk called the row.

0:09

Bangston Barossa de Padilla, De Akawa, Dorns, Green Remy, Ross, Weich, Harden.

0:15

May I have a motion to adjourn regular meeting 61 from December 15, 2025.

0:21

Clerk call the row.

0:22

Bangston Barossa de Padilla, Day Akar, Dorns, Green, Remy, Ross, Weich, President.

0:28

Hardin.

0:29

Regular meeting number one will now come to order.

0:32

Please stand for the playing of the national anthem.

1:32

Councilmember Remy, will you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?

1:36

I pledge allegations to the flag of the United States of America.

1:44

Under God.

2:01

Okay.

2:06

Thank you.

2:13

Our first order of business this evening is to elect a temporary president to preside for the purpose of electing a permanent president of city council.

2:22

I move that Toya Johnson be made temporary president for the purpose of electing a permanent president for Council Columbus City Council.

2:31

Clerk call the roll.

2:33

Bangston Baro Bangston Barossa de Padilla, Day Akar, Dorens, Green, Remy, Ross, Weich, Harden.

2:41

I now open the floor for nominations for the permanent president of council.

2:46

Council President, I would like to nominate Councilmember Hardin as president of Columbus City Council.

2:53

Are there any other nominations for president of City Council?

2:58

Hearing none, the floor is closed for nominations.

3:02

Clerk, please call the roll by voice on the nomination of Councilmember Hardin as Council President.

3:09

Bangston.

3:10

Yes.

3:10

Barossa de Padilla?

3:12

Yes.

3:12

De Akar.

3:13

Yes.

3:14

Dorns.

3:14

Yes.

3:15

Green?

3:15

Yes.

3:16

Remy?

3:17

Yes.

3:17

Ross?

3:18

Yes.

3:18

Weich?

3:19

Yes.

3:19

Harden.

3:20

Yes.

3:21

Council President Hardin is elected as Columbus City Council President.

3:36

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

3:38

Um, I now open the floor for nominations for President Pro Tim of Council.

3:43

Council President.

3:45

I nominate Councilmember Rob Dorns as President Pro Tim of Columbus City Council.

3:50

Are there any other nominations for President Pro Tim of City Council?

3:55

The floor is now closed for nominations.

3:58

Clerk, please call the roll by voice for the nomination of Rob Dorns.

4:01

Bangston?

4:02

Yes.

4:03

Barossa de Padilla?

4:04

Yes.

4:05

De Akaur?

4:06

Yes.

4:06

Dorens.

4:07

Yes.

4:08

Green.

4:09

Yes.

4:09

Remy.

4:10

Yes.

4:11

Ross.

4:11

Yes.

4:12

Weich.

4:12

Yes.

4:13

President Harden.

4:14

Yes.

4:15

Congratulations.

4:15

Council President Pro Tim.

4:28

I move that Toya Johnson be appointed as City Clerk.

4:31

Effective January 5th, 2026.

4:35

Clerk, please call the row.

4:37

Bangston, Barossa De Padilla, De Akawer, Dorns, Green Reamy, Weich, President Hardin.

4:43

Congratulations, Madam Clerk.

4:56

I move that Tyler Brown, Talia Brown be appointed city treasurer, effective January 5th, 2026.

5:02

Clerk, please call the row.

5:04

Bangs then, Barossa de Padilla, De Akawa Dorns, Green Remy, Ross, Weiss, President Harden.

5:10

Congratulations, Madam Clerk.

5:16

May I lose a motion dispense with the reading of the journal?

5:19

Clerk please call the role.

5:21

Bangs then, Barossa De Padilla, De Akawer Dorns, Green, Remy, Ross, White's President Hardin.

5:27

Per section 1104.04 of the Columbus City Code, standing committees.

5:33

The clerk will now read the new committee assignments for 2026 into the record.

5:46

All members serve.

6:01

All members serve.

6:02

Housing, homelessness and building committee, Councilmember Tierra Ross, Chair, Councilmember Shannon Harden, or Council President Shannon Harden, Vice Chair, all members serve, neighborhoods, recreation and parks committee, Councilmember Nancy Day Akaur Chair, Councilmember Christopher Weiss, Vice Chair, all members serve, Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee, Councilmember Emanuel Reamy, Chair, Councilmember Tierra Ross, Vice Chair, all members serve, Public Service and Transportation Committee, Councilmember Lord, Councilmember Lord S.

6:32

Barosa de Padilla Chair, Councilmember Nancy Day Achower, Vice Chair, all members serve, Public Utilities and Sustainability Committee, Councilmember Christopher Weiss, Chair, Councilmember Emanuel Remy, Vice Chair, all members serve, rules and policy committee, Council President Shannon Harden, Chair, Council President Pro Tim Rob Dorns, Vice Chair, all members serve, Workforce Education and Labor Committee, Council President Pro Tim Rob Dorns Chair, Council Member Melissa Green, Vice Chair, all members serve, zoning committee, council president pro Tim Rob Dorns Chair, Council President Shannon Harden, Vice Chair, all members serve.

7:11

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

7:13

Would you help me welcome our new chairs of Columbus City Council?

7:19

Tonight, Council uh welcomes our new members who will fill uh the seat left vacant when Sheila Favor was elected county prosecutor following a year in which the seat was temporarily filled by Councilmember Otto Beatty III.

7:32

Councilmember Tierra Ross steps into a role shaped by the service of two distinguished public servants, and she certainly has big shoes to fill, but we are so grateful that she answered the call to serve, and we welcome her to council.

7:44

Would you help please help us welcome our new our new colleague?

7:53

With this election and as part of our annual reorganization, we are making a few modest adjustments to our committee assignments.

7:59

Over the past year, I've had the honor of serving as council president while also chairing the housing, homelessness, and building committee.

8:07

That work has been especially meaningful to me because I firmly believe that our city must remain focused on housing housing and building more housing.

8:15

As part of tonight's changes, we are entrusting uh and elevating council member Ross with the leadership of this committee.

8:22

I will step into the role of vice chair of the committee.

8:26

Uh and I want to be clear that I intend to remain highly active and support her work.

8:30

Housing continues to be one of my strongest policy priorities, and I will continue shepherding several key initiatives, including Yes and God's backyard.

8:38

In addition to uh Councilmember uh Ross, she will also serve as chair of the public safety and criminal justice committee.

8:45

Uh additionally, over the last few months, I met with each member of council.

8:49

I examined their work structure, goals, and compatibility with their assigned departments, and met with stakeholders and received feedback.

8:57

Through this promise prox process, I saw my colleagues have a strong sense of commitment to their assigned committees.

9:04

I must say many of them have now have significant, significant longevity and have become subject matter matter experts on the policies in the committees that they chair.

9:16

The other minor changes that you uh heard were Councilmember Barossa de Padilla, she will become the vice chair of the Health and Human Service and Equity Committee, and Councilmember Melissa Green will serve as the vice chair of the workforce education and labor committee.

9:30

With these adjustments, all other committee assignments stay the same into the as the preceding year.

9:36

I look forward to the work that each of my colleagues, each of my colleagues will do over the next year in leading these committees and thus leading our city.

9:44

Thank you so much.

9:47

With that, if there is no other business to come before council, I want to want to thank each of you for again entrusting me with this uh awesome responsibility uh to lead this city in unprecedented times.

10:00

Uh more and more.

10:01

Um I call this period of time um defederalization of the federal government, where the federal government is stepping back and people are looking to cities more to lead them, to support them, to make sure that they have the basic needs.

10:15

Uh, it is the greatest honor of my life that I get to for two more years be a part of doing that work of taking care of the least of these, to supporting the awesome work of moving our community forward, creating jobs, protecting our families with the AW and with our community.

10:33

So thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to serve again.

10:37

If there's no other business to come before council, I may have a motion to adjourn.

10:41

Clerk, please call the roll.

10:42

Thanks, Denver Rosa de Padilla, de Aka or Dorans Green, Remy Ross, Weiss, President Hart.

10:47

We stand adjourned.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████50%
Personnel Matters█████████████████████████████████37%
Affordable Housing████████████13%
Summary of Proceedings

Columbus City Council Reorganization Meeting – December 15, 2025

Date Discrepancy Note: While the prompt specified a date of December 8, 2025, the transcript refers to the meeting as "Regular Meeting Number One" held on December 15, 2025. The summary below reflects the date explicitly stated in the source text.

The Columbus City Council convened for its annual reorganization to elect permanent leadership, appoint key city officials, and assign committee chairs and vice-chairs. Following the election of Councilmember Shannon Harden as President and Rob Dorns as President Pro Tempore, the Council proceeded with unanimous appointments of city staff and finalized committee structures for 2026 under the new leadership.

Consent Calendar

  • Motion to Adjourn Meeting 61 (Dec 15): A motion was made and passed to formally adjourn the previous meeting number 61.
  • Motion to Dispense with Journal Readings: Council voted unanimously to waive the formal reading of the previous meeting's journal.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No public comments or testimony were recorded in the provided transcript. The session focused exclusively on organizational elections and appointments.

Discussion Items

  • Election of Officers:

    • Councilmember Tierra Ross was nominated and elected as a new council member to fill the seat previously held by Sheila Favor and Otto Beatty III.
    • Council President: Councilmember Shannon Harden was nominated by the existing President and elected unanimously. Harden expressed a commitment to "defederalization" where cities lead community needs, citing housing and job creation as priorities.
    • President Pro Tempore: Councilmember Rob Dorns was nominated and elected unanimously.
    • Temporary President: Toya Johnson was appointed as the temporary president solely for the purpose of facilitating the presidential election.

  • Key Appointments:

    • City Clerk: Toya Johnson was appointed effective January 5, 2026, with unanimous support.
    • City Treasurer: Tyler Brown and Talia Brown were appointed as City Treasurer effective January 5, 2026, with unanimous support.

  • Committee Assignments and Structure Changes (2026):

    • Housing, Homelessness and Building Committee: Chair Tierra Ross, Vice Chair Shannon Harden. President Harden stated, "Housing continues to be one of my strongest policy priorities," and she intends to remain highly active while passing the chair role to Ross.
    • Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee: Chair Emanuel Reamy, Vice Chair Tierra Ross. Ross was assigned this dual leadership role.
    • Neighborhoods, Recreation and Parks Committee: Chair Nancy Day Akawer, Vice Chair Christopher Weiss.
    • Public Service and Transportation Committee: Chair Lord S. Barosa de Padilla, Vice Chair Nancy Day Akawer.
    • Public Utilities and Sustainability Committee: Chair Christopher Weiss, Vice Chair Emanuel Reamy.
    • Rules and Policy Committee: Chair Shannon Harden, Vice Chair Rob Dorns.
    • Workforce Education and Labor Committee: Chair Rob Dorns, Vice Chair Melissa Green.
    • Zoning Committee: Chair Rob Dorns, Vice Chair Shannon Harden.
    • Health and Human Service and Equity Committee: Lord S. Barosa de Padilla was assigned as Vice Chair (noted by President Harden as a minor adjustment).

  • Leadership Remarks:

    • President Harden welcomed new member Tierra Ross, acknowledging the "big shoes" to fill following Sheila Favor's election as county prosecutor.
    • Harden described the current era as a time of "defederalization," emphasizing the city's role in supporting families and the "least of these" as the federal government steps back.
    • President Harden confirmed she will step down as Chair of the Housing committee to serve as Vice Chair while maintaining active support for key initiatives like "Yes In God's Backyard."

Key Outcomes

  • Elections Completed:
    • President: Shannon Harden (Unanimous)
    • President Pro Tempore: Rob Dorns (Unanimous)
  • Appointments Approved (Effective Jan 5, 2026):
    • Toya Johnson: City Clerk (Unanimous)
    • Tyler Brown & Talia Brown: City Treasurer (Unanimous)
  • Committee Leadership Finalized: All 8 standing committees assigned with new chairs and vice-chairs as detailed in the Discussion Items.
  • Adjournment: Meeting adjourned unanimously following a vote by the clerk.

Meeting Transcript

May I have a motion to reconvene regular meeting 61 from December 15th, 2025? Clerk called the row. Bangston Barossa de Padilla, De Akawa, Dorns, Green Remy, Ross, Weich, Harden. May I have a motion to adjourn regular meeting 61 from December 15, 2025. Clerk call the row. Bangston Barossa de Padilla, Day Akar, Dorns, Green, Remy, Ross, Weich, President. Hardin. Regular meeting number one will now come to order. Please stand for the playing of the national anthem. Councilmember Remy, will you please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge allegations to the flag of the United States of America. Under God. Okay. Thank you. Our first order of business this evening is to elect a temporary president to preside for the purpose of electing a permanent president of city council. I move that Toya Johnson be made temporary president for the purpose of electing a permanent president for Council Columbus City Council. Clerk call the roll. Bangston Baro Bangston Barossa de Padilla, Day Akar, Dorens, Green, Remy, Ross, Weich, Harden. I now open the floor for nominations for the permanent president of council. Council President, I would like to nominate Councilmember Hardin as president of Columbus City Council. Are there any other nominations for president of City Council? Hearing none, the floor is closed for nominations. Clerk, please call the roll by voice on the nomination of Councilmember Hardin as Council President. Bangston. Yes. Barossa de Padilla? Yes. De Akar. Yes. Dorns. Yes. Green? Yes. Remy? Yes. Ross? Yes. Weich? Yes. Harden. Yes. Council President Hardin is elected as Columbus City Council President. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Um, I now open the floor for nominations for President Pro Tim of Council. Council President. I nominate Councilmember Rob Dorns as President Pro Tim of Columbus City Council. Are there any other nominations for President Pro Tim of City Council? The floor is now closed for nominations. Clerk, please call the roll by voice for the nomination of Rob Dorns. Bangston?

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