The Columbus City Council convened on April 8, 2026, at 5:00 pm in Council Chambers. The meeting opened with a prayer led by Monsignor Cody, followed by roll call and announcements. The council considered a range of resolutions, ordinances, and public testimony, with the most contentious item being Ordinance 1112-2026, which would authorize a lease of McCoy Park for a National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) training facility. The council also approved numerous consent agenda items, zoning variances, and committee reports.
Ordinance 1112-2026 (NWSL training facility at McCoy Park): Eight speakers were scheduled (three against, four for; one against speaker was not called due to time).
Public comment on Ordinance 860-2026 (Franklin County jail contract): Isaiah St. John (personal capacity) urged the council to reject the contract due to the Franklin County Sheriff’s policy of notifying ICE about inmates who speak little English. He stated that in February 2026, 20 individuals were taken into ICE custody from the county jail, 12 of whom had no criminal convictions. He argued that taxpayer dollars should not support a system that collaborates with federal immigration enforcement.
This evening, Council is grateful to have an old friend, Monsignor Cody here to pray with this. My senior, welcome back to council. Thank you, Mr. President. It's always a pleasure to be here. Brothers and sisters, let us pray. Oh, good and gracious God. Members of our Columbus City Council have gathered to conduct the business of our city on behalf of the citizens of our city. May your wisdom guide their deliberations tonight and always as we seek together to work for the common good of all of us in Columbus. Our council members ask for your guidance. We are concerned that our nation is engaged in yet another war. We pray for peace and a renewed sense of mutual understanding and respect among the nations of our world. Send a spirit of peace among us and special blessing on the members of our council and the citizens that they serve. Amen. Thank you so much for seeing Cody. Clerk, please call the role. Any person who takes any action to obstruct or interfere with the conduct of tonight's meeting may be charged with disturbing a lawful meeting pursuant to Columbus City Code 2317.12. Any person who enters those areas of city council chambers reserved for city officials or invited guests may be charged with criminal trespass pursuant to Columbus City Code 2311. Clerk please call the royal.gov as well. Again, each speaker will be limited in the remarks lasting no longer than three minutes. So again, really looking forward to uh really kicking off and getting the next phase of our petitionary budgeting process uh rolled out, as many may remember. Uh, we're able to secure nine million dollars, a million dollars for each of our districts to go through a process by which uh residents will lead us through an exercise of collecting uh ideas for their neighborhoods and also voting directly on what they want to see uh in those capital projects. So really excited about that process and want to thank all of the residents who have stepped up uh during the steering committee process and have put the guidebook together that will help uh guide us through that uh uh endeavor. Uh so again, looking forward to having everyone out on April 29th. That's all I have. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh Councilmember uh Dia. Uh thank you, Council President. Happy spring, everyone. It's April, and uh as the city uh has begun street sweeping this month, so April through October, uh, the street maintenance section sweeps streets from early April, and then it goes all the way until the last week of October. The street sweeping program is focused on mitigating environmental concerns to prevent pollution from entering into our waterways. So please, please, please pay attention to the street cleaning signs in your neighborhood so that your car does not get towed, or if you're visiting one of the other beautiful areas of our city, just make sure that you pay attention to those signs since it is that season. Um and unfortunately, I wish I had happier announcements, but it's a beautiful day, so thank you. Thank you, Councilmember. Councilmember Day of Gauer. Thank you, Council President. Um, I have one resolution this evening. And as I read the title, I would like to invite Michael Rawl and invited guests of the Parkinson's Foundation up to the podium. So resolution 0090X-2026 to recognize the month of April as Parkinson's Awareness Month and commend the efforts and increased education and research by the Parkinson's Foundation. As the spouse of someone living with Parkinson's, I'm always proud to bring forward this resolution each year. It is an opportunity to uplift a group educating and raising awareness and clearing up misconceptions around the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the country. Parkinson's disease is a chronic progressive neurological disease affecting approximately one million people in the United States, diagnosing 90,000 new people each year. There is no objective test or biomarker for Parkinson's disease, and there is no cure or drug to slow or halt the progression of the disease. The symptoms are extremely wide-ranging beyond just tremors, and it is not a disease that exclusively affects older adults, like many presume. The Parkinson's Foundation is an outstanding nonprofit that has been helping those living with Parkinson's and their families and caregivers for decades. Whether it is through their fundraising for research, they're helping folks get up and move, which is the number one way to manage symptoms, or their education and advocacy work. This organization shows up time and time again for those living with this disease. So I'm happy to once again be sponsoring their annual Columbus Moving Day walk on Sunday, April 26th at 10 a.m. at Wolf Park.