Mayor looks back on accomplishments

Columbus Mayor Jim Lienhoop says he still has things to accomplish in his last 10 months in office. He outlined the successes of his two terms this week in his State of the City address.

Liehnoop said that when he took office the two biggest pressing issues were the increasing train traffic and congestion at the railroad crossing on Jonathan Moore Pike, and the opioid epidemic. He said that the construction of the overpass solved the first problem, and the creation of the Alliance for Substance Abuse Progress in Bartholomew County is still working to address the second.

Lienhoop outlined several challenges he still hopes to tackle in his time remaining in office, including addressing problems in the Animal Care Services building at the airport. The building has had repeated plumbing issues with burst pipes causing flooding in the building. He said that the city will be looking at upgrading or replacing the building, which the department has outgrown.

But he also said that he will certainly be passing some remaining challenges on to the next mayor.

The mayor opted not to run for re-election and explained his reasoning at the speech with photos of his two young grandchildren, saying that they lived with their parents in California and will soon be getting a heavy dose of grandparents in their lives.