2020

Beginning with June 19^th, 2021, the commissioners will be making Juneteenth an official paid county holiday for employees to replace the recognition of Columbus Day.     
                                                                 
June 19^th celebrates the abolition of slavery in America, and the recognition that African Americans are entitled to equal rights in this country they helped to build.  Yet 155 years later, their descendants and other people of color are faced with unequal opportunity in pursuit of the American Dream.  On this Juneteenth, we recognize the struggle that so many have endured and are still enduring to help us realize the dream of a more perfect union, and we stand with our residents in the ongoing fight for racial equity.

The pandemic may be limiting where youth can go this summer, but a new public-private partnership between COSI and the Franklin County Commissioners will ensure that youth still have plenty to do. The Franklin County Commissioners and the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) have teamed up to create free educational and entertaining activities rooted in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) that will be catered to students in kindergarteners through high school.
 

The pandemic may be limiting where youth can go this summer, but a new public-private partnership between COSI and the Franklin County Commissioners will ensure that youth still have plenty to do. The Franklin County Commissioners and the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) have teamed up to create free educational and entertaining activities rooted in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) that will be catered to students in kindergarteners through high school. These new activities and videos will be available on the COSI Connects webpage starting later this month and will be posted daily into the fall.

The Franklin County Commissioners this morning voted to pass a series of three resolutions that will provide more than $2 million in grants and loans to small businesses in Franklin County that are struggling in the depressed economy.  The money is available immediately and administered by partner agencies such as Rev-1, ECDI, and KIVA-Columbus.  The funding is provided from among several sources, the federal CARES Act, Community Development Block Grant funding, and through a generous contribution from JPMorgan Chase.
 

The Franklin County Commissioners today announced the appointment of Orvell Johns as the new director to oversee the Office on Aging.  Mr. Johns will take over the position, which pays $99,840 annually, beginning Monday, June 8^th. 

The Franklin County Commissioners this afternoon joined with other local leaders in expressing their support for a statement and list of action steps put forth by a coalition of local African American leadership addressing racism, bias, and the future of our community.  The statement follows several days of widespread protests in Columbus, and many years of strained relations between the police and the African American community in Central Ohio and across the nation.
 

Franklin County Administrator, Kenneth N. Wilson this morning announced that some Franklin County agencies would begin bringing staff back into their usual work stations and some offices would be renewing access to the public, but with significant restrictions.
 

For the third day in a row, people of Central Ohio gathered downtown to protest the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the unequal treatment of people of color by police forces in many instances around the nation.  Commissioner Boyce attended the event with several other elected officials, including Congresswoman Joyce Beatty and Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin.  While supporting the crowd’s right to peacefully protest, the group was sprayed by police with pepper spray.  None of the elected officials was seriously hurt.

All of the Franklin County Commissioners support the protesters in the peaceful expression of their pain, and sympathize with their cause.  We call for restraint from both protesters and police, and insist that all sides take care to avoid any injury or destruction of property.

We will continue to work and fight against the racism and inequity that exist throughout the nation.
 

Peaceful protest has a long and important history in our country, and we will not condemn it.  We do call on both the protestors and the police to exercise restraint.  The safety of all of our community members must be our highest priority.  Addressing the systemic inequities that have led us to this point must be our ultimate objective.
 

The Franklin County Commissioners yesterday voted to invest an additional $2.6 million in rental and mortgage assistance to help residents in danger of eviction or foreclosure.  The initiative includes redirected federal TANF funding for the PRC (Prevention, Retention, and Contingency) program via Job and Family Services, new CARES Act dollars for PRC Plus, an expansion of the PRC program, and an investment of CARES Act dollars in the Housing Stabilization Coalition’s HOPE Fund.