Columbus, Ohio Voters passed Issue 19.

Issue 19 is a charter amendment increasing the time that a petition committee has to gather signatures from one year to two years.

The Amendment also adds a 10-day curing period if the initial petition falls short of the required signatures, during which a petition committee may collect more signatures.

Mike Carey, a coal lobbyist backed by former President Donald Trump, won the Republican primary to succeed former Rep. Steve Stivers over 10 other candidates for the Ohio Congressional District 15 seat.

Carey will face Democratic state Rep. Allison Russo, a health policy consultant who won the Democratic nomination, on Nov. 2.

Mayor Andrew Ginther and the City Council announced plans to limit contributions to municipal elections for the first time in city history.

The proposal seeks to limit annual contributions to municipal candidates by following state contribution amounts of $12,707.79.

The proposal also requires anyone issuing an advertisement in an election period to disclose contributions, expenditures, and debt. Additionally, all campaign finance filings must be audited.

Officials will host a presentation and hear public feedback on the proposal on Tuesday, December 4 at 6 p.m. in City Council chambers.

City Council will vote on the proposal at the December 10 council meeting. If passed, the proposal will take effect for the 2019 municipal elections.

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther signed emergency legislation yesterday creating a City Council Ethics Policy. The ethics policy aligns with state ethics law as well as with an executive order signed by Ginther in May 2016.

Ginther’s executive order was immediately effective for executive branch public officials and employees. The new City Council policy has nearly identical provisions on prohibited conduct and financial disclosure, but is applicable to all public officials and city employees.

Effective immediately, public officials and employees may not solicit or accept gifts or employment from anyone doing business with the city. They also must wait at least one year after leaving public service before representing any person or entity before any city department or division with respect to a matter they personally participated in while serving with the city.

Designated officials and employees must also file financial disclosure statements each year. The statements must include a description of each gift, or aggregate of gifts, exceeding $75 from certain sources during the previous calendar year.

Photo of Mayor Andrew Ginther by David Paul on Wikimedia Commons.

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther signed Executive Order 2016-01 on Tuesday, May 10, establishing ethics guidelines for public officials.

Effective immediately, public officials and employees may not solicit or accept gifts or employment from anyone doing business with the city. They also must wait at least one year after leaving public service before representing any person or entity before a department, board, or commission with respect to a matter they personally participated in while serving with the city.

Designated officials and employees must also file financial disclosure statements each year. The statements must include a description of each gift, or aggregate of gifts, exceeding $75 from certain sources during the previous calendar year.

Ginther believes the order will help to improve public opinion of City Hall.

The Columbus City Council passed three new pieces of ethics legislation on Monday, March 28, strengthening financial disclosure provisions and amending city campaign finance and lobbying laws.

Ord. 0084-2016 requires lobbyists to file updated registration statements in January, May, and September of each year. Knowingly failing to register as a lobbyist will be a third degree misdemeanor, while knowingly filing a false statement will be a misdemeanor of the first degree.

Although state campaign finance laws apply to municipal elections, Ord. 0087-2016 requires additional election period communication disclosure statements to be filed with the Franklin County Board of Elections and with the city clerk if contributions or expenditures for the reporting period equal or exceed $10,000.

Among other changes, Ord. 0086-2016 expands financial disclosure requirements for public office holders and candidates, requiring a description of each gift or aggregate of gifts over $75 from certain sources.

All three ordinances go into effect September 28, 2016.

Columbus City Council President Zach Klein will hold a public hearing on proposed ethics legislation on Wednesday, February 17, 2016. The proposed changes enhance transparency and accountability for lobbyists, strengthen ethics disclosure laws, and amend campaign finance reporting requirements.

Public testimony will be accepted. Comments will be limited to three minutes. Those wishing to comment must fill out a speaker slip at Columbus City Hall on the day of the hearing.

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther has proposed three new ordinances providing for an increase in lobbying oversight and gift disclosure, additional campaign finance disclosure, and the hiring of an inspector general. Columbus City Council is expected to hold a public hearing on the proposals in the coming weeks and to vote on them by late February.

With the lobbying proposal, Ginther wants the city to establish a new lobbyist registry to track the activity of lobbyist vendors seeking contracts with the city. Additionally, lobbyists would be required to disclose expenditures made on elected officials and department directors.

Photo of Mayor Ginther by David Paul on Wikimedia Commons.

Columbus mayoral candidate Andrew Ginther recently proposed a plan for new ethics rules for lobbyists and elected officials. His plan would amend the definition of lobbyist and expand lobbyist reporting requirements. Elected officials would be required to report all gifts received as well as participate in annual ethics training. The plan would also require additional disclosure in city campaign finance filings beyond the requirements already set by state law.

Ginther, president of Columbus City Council, faces Franklin County Sheriff Zach Scott in the November election; Scott also has a plan for tightening restrictions on lobbyists and proposing gift rules.

Elizabeth Brown, daughter of Sen. Sherrod Brown, will replace Michelle Mills on the November ballot in the race for Columbus City Council. Mills recently announced her resignation from council effective September 4, 2015.

Though no reason was given for her resignation, Mills was one of four members of council who attended the Big Ten Championship football game with lobbyist John Raphael. Raphael is part of a federal bribery investigation involving the city’s former red light camera vendor.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank the Council on Government Ethics Laws (COGEL) for a great conference in Columbus. Eleven of our staff from State and Federal Communications attended, and we had a terrific experience. There were so many information-packed sessions and it was nice to see old friends and make some new ones.

Here is a little video montage we made about our COGEL 2012 experience.  Enjoy!

State and Federal Communications is excited to be sending 11 people to the Council on Government Ethics Laws (COGEL) 34th Annual Conference in Columbus, Ohio. We are excited to have the conference in our home state capitol and we are helping every way we can – setting up, breakfast table topic leaders, a panelist for a breakout session, helping with social media, and more! It should be an exciting conference.

Maybe we’ll see you there?

Here is COGEL’s description of the conference:

JOIN US

COGEL and its Ohio Partners invite you to the 34th Annual Conference in COLUMBUS, Ohio! This thought provoking and educational conference is an opportunity to celebrate US — professionals in the fields of ethics, campaign finance, lobbying, elections and freedom of information.

FOCUS

With dynamic sessions, stimulating guest speakers, challenging discussions and endless opportunities for networking, this year’s COGEL Conference is not to be missed! The program includes elements of communicating your mission, understanding new technology, and catching up on legislation and litigation.

BONUS

There’s always something fun happening in Ohio’s capital city. With a lively arts scene, plenty of restaurants, shops, sports and entertainment venues, you don’t have to venture far to have a good time. This year’s Sunday evening reception will take place in the beautiful and historic Ohio Statehouse, directly across the street from the Sheraton Hotel at Capitol Square.