Columbus on “Steady Road to Prosperity,“ Mayor Coleman says in State of City address

 

 

By Felix Hoover

For Your News Columbus

Posted 02-25-10

 

 

Mayor Michael B. Coleman’s 11^th State of the City address paints a rosier picture than last year’s, which focused on cuts in city services, closing at recreation facilities and budgetary crisis.

 

This year’s portrait shows shades of green, some from environmental initiatives, but mostly from revenue generated by the income tax increase approved last year by Columbus voters.

 

Some of the rec centers were able to remain open or reopened on a limited basis because of community partnerships and other measures, but all of the closed buildings are to be running by year’s end, Coleman said.

 

Such action is but a part of what enables him to say the city is on the “Steady Road to Prosperity.”

 

He said that the goal won’t be achieved overnight, but didn't hide the rosy brush.

 

“I have never been more optimistic than I am today about the future of the city,” he said.

 

Coleman talked about improve made and expected in various neighborhoods throughout the city, including the King-Lincoln District, which houses the historic Lincoln Theatre, the site of this year’s address.

 

The mayor was introduced to the packed house by Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee, who a day earlier had joined with Coleman in announcing a partnership that is to foster revitalization of the neighborhood surrounding OSU Hospital East.

 

“The two of us share a future that is mutually dependent,” said Gee, who also emphasized the importance of education in a vibrant city.

 

Gee also spoke about the mayor‘s commitment to by Columbus “Bike City U.S.A.”

 

“Not only does he talk the talk, and walk the walk, but he rides the bike,” Gee said.

 

Adding bicycle trails and connecting up the Alum Creek Trail are among the improvements to facilitate physical activity in the city.

 

Coleman endorsed biking, calorie content information in local restaurants, access to grocery stores and availability of healthy food option as essential to upgrading the health of the city and its residents. He also endorsed the initiative by First Lady Michelle Obama to combat childhood obesity.

 

Any discussion of health benefits for same-sex partners might have shaken the house only a few years ago, but now seems the time for the city to follow the example of such companies as Nationwide, Cardinal Health and Limited Brands, Coleman said.

 

“We must extend domestic partner health benefits to our city employees,” he said. “Domestic partner health benefits are affordable, and more importantly, it’s the right thing to do.”

 

Elder John Turner of the Church of Christ on Watkins Road; his wife, Mary; and their daughter, Ey Vonne Vargas Smith, have attended many of Coleman’s State of the City presentations, including the one Wednesday night.

 

Smith said she looks forward to the restoration of yard waste pickup service.

 

Her mother said, “This year’s was orally and visually more informative than in the past.”

 

Mrs. Turner also likes the idea of reopening rec centers because “young people will have a place to go.”

 

The visuals included a before-and-after presentation about different neighborhoods and a video history of the Lincoln Theatre narrated by Angela Pace, director of community affairs at WBNS-10TV, who emceed the address.

 

The Greater Columbus Chamber of Columbus, which held its annual meeting earlier in the day at the Battelle Grand at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, is in sync with the mayor’s visions for job creation and retention and community development, Chamber President Ty Marsh said after the address.

 

Forging ahead to improve the city’s quality of life, through diversity, educational opportunities, vibrant arts are key ingredients in building a productive 21^st century work force in which “talent chooses where it wants to live,” he said.