COLUMBUS — Three Columbus City Council members are accusing Mayor Andrew Ginther of turning a tornado-damaged recreation center into a political prop in his push for a $5 million renovation.
Councilmember Nancy Day-Achauer leveled the charge at council’s Oct. 5 meeting, pointing to interviews Ginther gave Sept. 30 outside the Barack Recreation Center. In those interviews, the mayor pressed council to pass his 2026 capital budget proposal — which includes $5 million to renovate Barack — and positioned himself as a Recreation and Parks champion.
Day-Achauer said Ginther did that despite knowing he had already signed an emergency order at the end of August authorizing the city to immediately begin repairing Barack and three other Recreation and Parks sites damaged in the August storms: Busch Park, Berliner Park and the Fran Ryan Center.
At the same meeting, council voted unanimously to approve $2.5 million to retroactively pay for that emergency order. The city could later recover some of the repair costs through insurance or the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Franklin County is one of seven Ohio counties to receive federal disaster aid approval after 17 tornadoes statewide and other severe weather in August.
Gov. Mike DeWine requested a disaster declaration covering 23 counties; the other 16 remain under review. Day-Achauer said the storm recovery could have been a moment for elected officials to come together after a natural disaster — and argued the mayor chose a different path.