By Deba Uwadiae

With more than $750 million in this year’s operating budget alone and approximately $800 million in dedicated federal funding made available by the bipartisan infrastructure law, City of Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther will continue to focus on advancing safety, transit, and housing in a city that “the horizon is full of opportunities that promise to take our city to unprecedented heights.”

“Yet, this journey requires more from us than mere passive observation; it demands we have the courage to dream big and the audacity to make those dreams a reality,” Mayor Andrew Ginther said in the 2024 State of the City Address.

On safety, Mayor Ginther said “we are on the right path – despite an unfortunate uptick in violence in recent days. These incidents are completely and totally unacceptable – and they must stop. We will not allow these events to diminish our sense of safety or change the way we live.

“We will not allow a small number of people to destroy our sense of community. We will not be deterred from seeking progress or improvement to protect lives and livelihoods throughout Columbus.”

Speaking about transportation, Mayor Ginther said “for nearly 100 years, the growth of our city has been centered around the automobile – which paved the way for a car-centric transportation system.

“This just isn’t going to cut it any longer – especially with 1 million new residents slated to arrive in our region over the next 25 years.”

“This is where LinkUS comes in as our region’s comprehensive transportation plan. It’ll create a new, improved and affordable mobility system across Central Ohio by installing at least five “rapid transit lines” starting along West Broad, East Main and Olentangy River Road – some of our major growth corridors.”

He disclosed that “tomorrow, COTA’s board will vote to put a measure on the November ballot to support the build-out of LinkUS and commit further investments that will address growth, affordability and opportunity gaps in Central Ohio.”

The full text of 2024 State of the City Address:

Neighbors, a bright and boundless future awaits us. The horizon is full of opportunities that promise to take our city to unprecedented heights.

Yet, this journey requires more from us than mere passive observation; it demands we have the courage to dream big and the audacity to make those dreams a reality.

The next 10 to 15 years will determine whether our parents, kids and grandkids will be able to afford to live in this community and thrive. We want the very best for them. We owe them that much, especially after all they’ve been through these last few years.

We cannot simply allow events to come at us. We have to take the reins and shape the future for ourselves. We must be purposeful and intentional in all that we do – all through the lens of equity.

We are committed to pursuing growth that is both dynamic and inclusive. We are on this journey together. So, we must ensure that shared prosperity reaches every family in every neighborhood across Columbus.

This work springs from a simple idea: Where you start shouldn’t dictate where you end up. This applies to virtually every aspect of life.

Whether it means living in a neighborhood confronting crime to living in one that is safe, stable and secure, at all times of day… Or going from renting a home to owning a home or moving into a neighborhood that better suits the changing needs of you and your loved ones… Or ensuring access to efficient, reliable transportation that connects you to the essentials of life. Or fostering an environment where upward mobility is squarely within reach.

We want everyone in this community to see themselves in our city’s future, and I am truly excited about all that lies ahead.

We will continue to focus on advancing safety, transit, and housing. Those are my top priorities. They are indelibly connected – and they will remain critical as we become the economic juggernaut of the 21st century. This is a decade of action.

It will require change, and it will require conviction, but this is a pro-growth community, and we believe the sky’s the limit in the City of Columbus. We don’t just want to get bigger; we also want to get better.

This must include, first and foremost, safe and vibrant neighborhoods, and I’m proud to say that we’re bringing down violent crime while strengthening security and stability city-wide.

We are on the right path – despite an unfortunate uptick in violence in recent days. These incidents are completely and totally unacceptable – and they must stop.

We will not allow these events to diminish our sense of safety or change the way we live. We will not allow a small number of people to destroy our sense of community. We will not be deterred from seeking progress or improvement to protect lives and livelihoods throughout Columbus.

We all have a role to play – and we need the entire community to step up. We refuse to surrender the gains we have achieved, including a dramatic drop in homicides.

And although a single homicide is one too many, it’s important to remember that homicides this year are at their lowest level in eight years.

Nationally, Columbus has seen one of the largest drops in homicides among major U.S. cities, while fatal domestic violence incidents and non-fatal shootings are also down – year over year.

This is thanks, in large part, to Chief Bryant and all our officers at CPD – who’ve worked so hard to bring down violent crime and recover record numbers of guns from our streets – all while putting their own lives and well- being at risk every single day.

The past week has been especially dangerous for our officers. More than once, our officers faced violent and reckless assault.

Any time an officer is shot, disrespected or attacked in the City of Columbus, it’s a threat to all of us. And we aren’t going to stand for it.

Our officers deserve the best from us – and we want them to succeed.

I’m grateful for their focus on building bridges with the community – leading to historic levels of crime tips, which have helped to drive up homicide solve-rates above 90%.

And we continue to enlist the manpower, resources and expertise of law enforcement agencies spanning all levels of government to rid our neighborhoods of “the worst of the worst.”

One thing I’m particularly proud of is the Crime Gun Intelligence Center – a partnership between the City of Columbus, Governor DeWine’s administration and Director Dettelbach at the ATF. Officers are telling me directly about its transformational impact.

They’re telling me it used to take 40 to 50 days to trace a firearm to other crimes or back to its source. Tracing is critical when you consider the fact that most crime guns tend to be used in multiple crimes. Now, thanks to this new center, they’re able to trace a gun within 48 hours. This supports our record-high case-closure rates. And it is why we continue to pursue the best and latest technologies to make a meaningful difference.

Our momentum is impressive, but there is still more to do.

We’re continuing to graduate three Police recruit classes every year – up from two classes annually, which was the norm just a few short years ago.

We’re allocating historic sums toward neighborhood safety – more than $750 million in this year’s operating budget alone.

And we’re investing capital dollars to equip our officers, detectives and crime analysts with state-of-the-art facilities.

Next year, construction will start on the new Hilltop Substation along Sullivant Avenue.

And we recently started readying the site of the new Real Time Crime Center and Public Safety Campus in North Linden – an emerging hub of actionable intelligence that’ll enable our officers to respond more quickly and effectively to calls for service.

Although this facility won’t be completed for another three years, we’ve stood up a “Mini Real Time Crime Center” to get a head start on providing improved services and response times.

This is partially accomplished by centralizing and scanning the video feeds from thousands of safety cameras – which provide an objective perspective that can be combined with eyewitness accounts.

And downtown, a network of public- and private-sector partners are collaborating to support the centralized monitoring of hundreds of downtown security cameras by early 2025.

These cameras show what’s happening as events are unfolding, before our cruisers arrive at the scene, and this intel has proven invaluable in achieving the best possible use of our officers’ time and delivering the best possible results for our residents.

From identifying and tracking suspects and the vehicles they use to commit crimes to locating missing persons whose whereabouts are unknown, we’re already seeing signs of tremendous success, and we’re excited to take this work to the next level.

Make no mistake: Our prevention and intervention efforts extend to the individual, as well – the people most impacted by or likely to commit violent crime – along with all of the social and cultural forces that perpetuate the cycle of violence that we are working to disrupt.

This is why I created the Office of Violence Prevention, which has been up and running for over a year and held more than 400 community meetings, events, town halls and conversations with our fellow neighbors.

They hosted a gun buyback in partnership with CPD, collecting more than 340 firearms, and they’ll be managing the Columbus Violence Reduction initiative moving forward.

If we’re going to be successful in bringing down violent crime, and keeping it down in the years ahead, then it is vital that we focus our attention on the very small number of individuals who we know are responsible for committing the overwhelming majority of the violence.

This innovative program is partly how we get there, and we’re both pleased by its early progress and optimistic about its long-term potential. If you work hard and you play by the rules, you should be able to get to the things that matter most to you in life.

This requires that we connect the dots – between work and housing and health care and education and recreation. All of these facets influence one another. In most cases, you can’t have one without the other. What we must do now is link them together – using safe, reliable public transportation as our catalyst for change.

For nearly 100 years, the growth of our city has been centered around the automobile – which paved the way for a car-centric transportation system.

This just isn’t going to cut it any longer – especially with 1 million new residents slated to arrive in our region over the next 25 years.

Does anyone want to see a million more cars on the road? Do any of us want longer commute times, more traffic congestion and increased pollution degrading our natural

environment and quality of life? I know I don’t.

At the same time, a community that’s designed and built around the use of a car has never been fair, feasible or ideal for our neighbors who cannot afford, or don’t want to, own a vehicle.

This is where LinkUS comes in as our region’s comprehensive transportation plan.

It’ll create a new, improved and affordable mobility system across Central Ohio by installing at least five “rapid transit lines” starting along West Broad, East Main and Olentangy River Road – some of our major growth corridors.

Bus Rapid Transit – or BRT, for short – offers an experience that feels like light rail, moves as quickly as light rail, and can be up to seven times less expensive to build, when you look at the cost-per-mile.

But we’re not stopping there. We’re also building more than 500 miles of bikeways,

sidewalks and trails in communities across Central Ohio – all within COTA’s service area – to cultivate a network of neighborhoods that are more bikeable and walkable.

Banding together as a region to do big things: This is how we’ll create a more cohesive and connected region, and this is how we’ll facilitate more convenient and affordable access to even more destinations.

These planned investments will have a ripple effect, too: spurring new development, reducing household transportation costs, and better connecting our residents with what they need.

In fact, the first three LinkUS corridors will create access to more than 380,000 jobs at workplaces across the region over the next decade.

But the time to act is now. Because of support made available by the bipartisan infrastructure law – which includes approximately $800 million in dedicated federal funding – we have a unique opportunity to bring about transformative change to our region.

Tomorrow, COTA’s board will vote to put a measure on the November ballot to support the build-out of LinkUS and commit further investments that will address growth, affordability and opportunity gaps in Central Ohio.

We want to be the most pro-growth and prosperous community in the country. And the way we get there is by supporting and empowering each and every one of our residents.

Everyone must come along with us for the ride. The only way for us to realize our vision is to roll up our sleeves and do the difficult work – work that’s been brushed off or pushed aside decade after decade despite mounting pressures to act or move in a new direction.

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