The Columbus Way

An Interview with The Honorable Andrew Ginther, Mayor of Columbus, Scioto Mile in downtown Columbus during the Columbus Arts Festival

EDITORS’ NOTE Mayor Andrew Will you discuss your focus Parks and Development is important – it’s not Ginther was elected as the 53rd on early-childhood education in just the Division of Police’s job. All of us have a mayor of the City of Columbus after Columbus? role to play. having served on the Columbus I have always felt that the city We’re seeing some signs of success with a City Council from 2007 and as should help keep a focus on kinder- 28 percent reduction in homicides in 2018 and a President of the Council from 2011 garten readiness – from birth to fi ve. reduction in violent crime in all categories. until assuming the Offi ce of Mayor My vision is for Columbus to become a We made it clear from the beginning that we in January 2016. Mayor Ginther national leader in the birth to fi ve space. didn’t just want more police; we wanted to police is a Columbus native and proud This means better birth outcomes, reduc- differently. This strategy will allow us to do that. graduate, ing our infant mortality rates, having our How critical is public/private partner- and he has a long history of com- youngest residents thriving in their fi rst ship in addressing the issues that Columbus munity service. Prior to joining the years of life, and starting kindergarten is facing? , he was The Hon. Andrew Ginther ready to learn. It also means support- It is critical. We talk about the “Columbus elected to the Columbus Board of ing them with after-school and summer Way” and we think we do public/private partner- Education in 2001 and was re-elected in 2005. programs, and with internship opportunities and ships better than anywhere in America. We lever- Mayor Ginther earned a B.A. in political sci- pathways to careers. I believe that’s our role. age the public/private partnership – it worked for ence from Earlham College, studied abroad at What was the vision for the Smart downtown revitalization, for our riverfront redevel- the University of Ulster and Queen’s College in Columbus initiative and how has this effort opment and for economic development. We also , and taught at public schools progressed? leverage those partnerships with Smart Columbus. in and Derry. He also served in consecu- I’m a big believer that mobility is the great We have a comprehensive community-wide tive internships at the Carter Presidential Center equalizer of the 21st century. If one has access to plan focusing on safety, health and development in , where he taught non-violence and continuing education, living wage jobs, and things that we are implementing in partnership with the dispute resolution. some might take for granted like fresh fruits and private sector. We’re leveraging public/private part- vegetables and healthcare, then one can have a nerships to invest in and help transform the lives How do you define the strengths great quality of life regardless of where they live. of people in one of the most challenged areas of of Columbus and is Columbus well We beat out 77 other great American cities in Columbus. understood? the Smart City Challenge. We started with a $40 Celebrate One is our infant mortality reduc- We are becoming better understood. We’re million award from USDOT and $10 million from tion effort that I launched when I was Council reaching that critical mass of Fortune 500 com- Paul G. Allen Philanthropies and, by the time we President and we have continued to gain momen- panies and have a growing number of start-ups submitted the application, we already had $90 mil- tum on that and seen a reduction of infant mortal- across all industries. CoverMyMeds and Root lion in local matching funds generated from institu- ity in the community. Insurance were our fi rst unicorn start-ups. Both tions of higher education, corporations, and the Leveraging public/private partnerships has recently have been valued at a billion dollars city, county, and state. We have now leveraged that made all the difference in these areas. or more, which we’re very excited about. They into $600 million of spending on Smart Columbus With all of the gridlock in Washington, is were born and developed in Columbus, where aligned projects throughout the community with a it at the state and city level where real prog- 80 percent of our businesses are considered goal of $1 billion by 2020. ress is being made? small businesses. This has helped us dramatically increase That is defi nitely the case at the city level. We have an excellent workforce and a high mobility options and has even helped us tackle the It is a very different spirit on the local level. Most concentration of educational institutions – we issue of infant mortality by expanding access for people run for mayor to get things done and help have 136,000 students in undergraduate study in expectant moms to prenatal assistant programs by empower people to improve their own lives. the region at any given point in time. Besides providing access to doctor appointments and other What makes Columbus unique is the people Ohio State, we also have Columbus State and resources they need in order to make sure their of Columbus, two-thirds of whom are doing better many other institutions of higher learning pregnancies go full-term and result in healthy babies. than they have ever done before, but that is still throughout the region. Have your efforts around public safety not enough for them. We’re also located at the center of the most been more about increasing law enforcement They know that one-third of their neighbors densely populated part of the country, so that presence or is it a broader focus? have been left out of the Columbus success story means we have superior access to the North It’s much broader. We developed a compre- and they want to advance them into the winner’s American consumer population. hensive neighborhood safety strategy after a series circle. They want mixed-income neighborhoods Generally, we’re within a 10-hour drive of of roundtables around the community. and a place with folks from all walks of life to be 46 percent of the market in the U.S., so hav- We had a record number of homicides in able to age in place in their neighborhoods. ing a high number of corporate headquarters 2017 and I knew that we could not police our We believe that now is the time for us to chart a and a signifi cant U.S. manufacturing capacity way out of it. We know that public safety is every- course for not just dynamic growth, but also inclusive contribute to why Columbus is a great place one’s responsibility, so having the involvement growth, and that is what generates the excitement that to do business. of the Departments of Health and Recreation and is so wonderful about leading the city right now.• 98 LEADERS POSTED WITH PERMISSION. COPYRIGHT © 2019 LEADERS MAGAZINE, INC. VOLUME 42, NUMBER 2