COLUMBUS, Ohio — Mayor Andrew Ginther is discussing public safety, pandemic recovery efforts, resiliency and more during his 2022 State of the City address on Tuesday.
The address comes as the city continues to navigate its way out of a two-year-long public health crisis, during which businesses were forced to close and Columbus police reported an unprecedented spike in violence.
Just last week, Columbus City Council members voted to end the city’s mask mandate – a move Ginther was quick to sign into effect. The city now joins others across the state working to turn the pandemic into an endemic.
The return to pre-pandemic normalcy will require more than lifting health orders, though. Columbus police responded to the highest number of homicides the city had ever seen in 2021. A review of the city’s crime trends found a small percentage of the population was committing that crime.
In a continued push to combat rising violence, Ginther announced in November more than $660 million will be devoted from this year’s operating budget toward community safety efforts; the largest investment of its kind in the city’s history.
City officials are now working to implement a newly evolved Comprehensive Neighborhood Safety Strategy amid an uptick in violent crime reported during the pandemic.
Columbus police data shows gun violence accounted for 91% of homicides in 2021. Ginther declared gun violence a public health crisis last year and requested Columbus be included in the Firearms Trafficking Strike Force. City leaders also formed the Columbus Alliance Against Illegal Guns in an effort to demand gun reform.
Aside from public safety, Ginther and city leaders also worked to provide affordable housing to residents. A $50 million affordable housing bond approved by voters in 2019 has leveraged more than $300 million in investments to create 1,300 new affordable housing units in four years.
In terms of education, more than $3.5 million in American Rescue Plan funding was allotted to child care scholarships in an effort to address labor shortages; one of many attempts to set working families up for success during the pandemic.
You can listen to Ginther’s full State of the City address in the player above.