mayor mike coleman

“The State of Our City is strong.” Those were the words that Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman said in the State of the City Celebration when asked about the state of Columbus in 2015.

From the format of the State of the City, it hardly seemed like the normal address. It felt more like a celebration of the achievements and accomplishments of an administration, and the work that needs to continue to keep Columbus shining in the spotlight long after Mayor Coleman’s run as Mayor wraps up at the end of this year.

“I think we’re in a renaissance,” Mayor Michael B. Coleman (Democrat) said in the interview-style State of the City Celebration at the Palace Theatre on Thursday in Downtown Columbus. Coleman cited the creation of 40,000 new jobs to the city, and the $ 7 Billion invested into the city.

The program, which started 26 minutes late, began with a moment of silence in remembrance of former Columbus Mayor Dana G. “Buck” Rinehart (Republican), who died on Wednesday, just days shy of his 69th birthday. Rinehart was Mayor of Columbus from 1984 to 1991, and like Coleman, helped develop the city’s growth with City Center Mall, the Short North Arts District, and a development that would later be Easton.

Following the National Anthem and Pledge of Allegiance, The Harmony Project singing the Phil Collins song “Take Me Home”, with a video playing on the screens overhead of neighborhoods throughout the city, to set the tone for what was ahead during the program.

Columbus is the hometown that has gone from “Cow Town” to competing with the likes of Philadelphia and Brooklyn for the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Columbus is the top city for Young Professionals.

Columbus was the top-ranked “Opportunity City” in Forbes Magazine. Columbus was ranked the top city for African-Americans in Ebony Magazine. Columbus received a score of 100 in the Human Rights Campaign Index. Columbus, in the 15 years that Coleman has been Mayor, has grown and made strides.