Position: Secretary

Type of Appointment/Position: Presidential with Senate confirmation    

Mayor Michael B. Coleman

Current Rating:

Mayor Michael B. Coleman took office on January 1, 2000. Prior to becoming mayor, Coleman served as President of Columbus City Council from 1/6/97-11/29/99, and as a Council member from 2/3/92-12/31/99. Michael Coleman graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1977 with a degree in Political Science. He earned his law degree from the University of Dayton Law School in 1980. In addition to his record of public service and plans for Columbus' future, Mayor Coleman is married to Frankie Coleman, and they have three children, Kimberly, Justin and John-David.

Michael B. Coleman was born on November 18, 1954, he and his family live on Columbus' east side.

Mayor Michael B. Coleman took office with a commitment to improving the quality of life for families in Columbus' neighborhoods, and has set forth a variety of strategies to support that vision:

We've worked to increase the development of new homes for families, spurring construction through City incentives of nearly 6,600 new housing units in Columbus neighborhoods; This includes the work of the Columbus Franklin County Affordable Housing Trust Corporation, which Coleman created to leverage public funding to attract private investment in building housing for families. The fund is capitalized with $4.1 million from City and $2 million from Franklin County. This $6 million has been used to spur the construction of 860 homes and apartments to date. The CFCAHTC has leverage $6 million to drive more than $70 million from the private sector;

Worked with local banks to drive historic investment in older neighborhoods through his initiative, called, The Partnership for America's 21st Century City. The Mayor's Partnership has already helped 625 families buy a home and provided nearly 2,400 loans to small businesses. Partner institutions have committed more than $3.5 billion to date;

Focused on the Northland community, which in 1999 was a neighborhood in distress, and now has renewed hope due to focused public investment and new private investment. The City of Columbus, in partnership with residents, the Northland Alliance, the Northland Area Business Association, the Northland Community Council and City Council, has embarked upon a number of initiatives relating to the improvement of the Morse Road Corridor: The City will spend more than $20 million dollars in specific, strategic investment along the Morse Road corridor and in the neighborhood, including: the purchase of the Northland Mall site (see below), $6.8 million for Morse Road improvement and preliminary engineering, $2 million for Gille Senior Recreation Center, and $2 million for redevelopment of Nazarene site; Announced first new tenant to Mall Property, Retail Ventures, bringing 650 jobs to the district, including 350 jobs new to the city; The Franklin County roadway improvement project for Morse Road, from Cleveland Avenue to Trindel Way. The project will widen this portion of the road, add sidewalks, metal utility poles, and street trees. The City invested $800,000 for this effort; City Council approved legislation for Tax Increment Financing (TIF) for public improvements that include rehabilitation and improvements of Morse Road from Indianola Avenue to Cleveland Avenue for streetscape improvements that include a landscaped median, new trees, curb and gutter drainage, bicycle paths, sidewalks and streetlights; Created the Columbus Urban Growth Corporation as a partner to drive joint public-private development deals with the City to create new housing and jobs, including: Four Corners  continuing work with the Greater Linden Development Corporation to develop the fourth corner of the intersection. There is currently $20 million of new investment and approximately 400 people working at South Linden's new village square, which replaced one of the City's most blighted neighborhood intersections. West Edge Business Center - West Edge Business Center, a new $60 million office/light industrial park, will bring approximately 1,000 jobs to the economically-challenged central city neighborhood of Franklinton over the next 5 years. Three buildings totaling 200,000 square feet are now under constructed with an approximate value of $18 million. Taylor Homes - $60 million residential redevelopment project. 17 homes are to be newly built or renovated during thE phase. Several other single- and multi-family units and 4 condominiums will be. A total of $2.5million in housing investment has been made in 2003 and approximately $1.5 million in new infrastructure is underway. King-Lincoln District - Bringing together financial resources, community leaders and property owners to plan for the rebirth of the King-Lincoln District, once the historic heart of Columbus' African American Community. Under the City's supervision, Urban Growth has been acquiring land in the area around the King Arts Complex and the Lincoln Theater for future development. These properties have been placed in the City's Land Bank. A development committee formed by Mayor Coleman will direct the revitalization efforts in the area and will determine the best uses of the properties already acquired.

Launched Neighborhood Pride, a proactive initiative to engage residents and businesses as partners in revitalizing their homes and neighborhoods. In Pride, city employees from multiple departments work together to provide focused services, point out health, safety and code problems. In its first four years, Pride toured 30 neighborhoods, and will clean up six more areas in 2004.

Worked to improve pedestrian safety and safety for children in school zones; Raised fines; court appearance made mandatory TRAFFIC CALMING $2.6 million by end of 2003 223 TC measures (speed humps and intersection humps) 17 neighborhoods affected Investment in Sidewalks near Schools of $4.3 million by end of 2003 or 3.6 miles School Warning Lights - $928,000 by end of year, which will include 70 0f 106 schools. There will also be $158,000 invested in new warning signs in school zones in 2003. Speed Trailers  the City spent $80,000 to purchase 10 speed trailers in 2002, bringing fleet to 12, they have been deploying since mid-April this year  10 to 12 deployed weekly all across the city. TRANSPORTATION AND PEDESTRIAN COMMISSION - Created new 8-member commission in July to broaden the approach to finding solutions to the issues surrounding neighborhood livability. Assist in crafting policies for traffic calming, shared-use paths, multi-way stops, traffic signal timing, school walking routes Proven Record of Responsible Muncipal Budgeting

Despite the impact of the national recession, we've been able to maintain our focus on funding public safety and essential neighborhood services. In the past four years, every department has been cut, except the Department of Public Safety, which was 63% of the General Fund in 2001, and is now 72% in 2004.

We've cut $150 million from continuation budgeting levels since 2000, despite steep increases in costs for medical insurance and workers compensation. Our fiscal management over the General Fund is also critical to maintaining our AAA Bond Rating, the highest possible rating.