News

Franklin County Commissioners’ Statement on DACA, Dreamers

Franklin County Administrator Kenneth N. Wilson this morning presented his recommended 2018 budget to the Board of Commissioners, and hearings on the budget will continue this afternoon.  In his presentation, Wilson said that this year’s budget places an emphasis on Franklin County’s ongoing fiscal sustainability, preserving the county’s double Triple-A bond rating, and on preserving the county’s “rainy day fund”.
 

The Franklin County commissioners today announced contracts with the Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council and local service provider, IMPACT Community Action to administer a pre-apprenticeship pilot program designed to help low-income county residents to transition into apprentice programs that lead to well-paid commercial skilled construction trades careers.

The Franklin County Board of Commissioners, in partnership with the City of Columbus, the Workforce Development Board of Central Ohio and CareSource announced a two-year workforce initiative in the Milo-Grogan neighborhood. The goal of the program is to work with the Milo-Grogan community to help residents become job ready, find high quality employment opportunities, and advance within in their careers.

Franklin County Commissioners’ Statement in Observance of Veterans Day
 

The Franklin County commissioners and sheriff broke ground on a new county jail at a ceremony on the city’s west side. The first phase of the project will include almost 900 beds for inmates, cost approximately $175 million, and is set to open in late 2019. Phase one will allow the county to close the current downtown jail facility, which first opened in 1969, and additional future construction will eventually total more than 2,000 beds and lead to the closure of the other current Franklin County jail facility on Jackson Pike. 
 

The Franklin County Board of Commissioners, in support of local partners, encourage Franklin County residents to dispose of their expired, unused or unwanted prescription medications safely on Saturday, October 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Franklin County and the City of Columbus have been recognized for the Columbus & Franklin County Local Food Action Plan, the Green Business Urban Agriculture Plan, and a joint food team to implement the two plans.  The collaborative effort provides a framework to unify residents, schools, community organizations, businesses, and local government in supporting a healthy, strong, and resilient local food system.  The statewide award for Best Practices in Planning, given annually by the Ohio Chapter of the American Planning Association, honors outstanding planning and planning leadership, and was presented at a ceremony in Athens on September 28th.

The Franklin County Board of Commissioners sent a letter to both of Ohio’s U.S. Senators, Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman, urging them to “oppose Graham-Cassidy and instead work with their colleagues in the Senate to advance legislation that improves, rather than destroys, our current healthcare system.”

All three members of the Franklin County Board of Commissioners and the County Administrator have recently been appointed to leadership roles within National Association of Counties (NACo) policy steering committees, ad hoc and standing committees, and various caucuses and task forces.