COLUMBUS, Ind – The Columbus City Council discussed the possibility of changing Columbus into a second-class city earlier this week, setting the stage for a potential shuffling of the structure of city government.
In the state of Indiana, each city is divided into first, second, and third-class cities. These designations are primarily derived from population size. Cities of 600,000 or more are first-class cities, cities of 35,000 to 599,999 are second-class cities, and cities of less than 35,000 are third-class cities.
Columbus is currently a third-class city with a population commensurate with a second-class city. Mayor Jim Lienhoop says Columbus has had the ability to shift to a second-class city since 2000, but now might be the right time to make the change. Mayor Lienhoop said, “We really want to avoid some of the consternation that has occurred in some of these other cities and make this move now while things are under control.”
Columbus City Council is currently made up of seven members: five representing districts plus two at-large members. Shifting to a second-class city would mean adding an additional district-representing member and at-large member, increasing the city council to nine members.
There would also be a change in the configuration of the city’s finance department. The Clerk/Treasurer position in the city government would become a Clerk position and the city would have to hire a Controller. Also, second-class cities choose a president and vice president to preside over city council meetings. In third-class cities, the mayor presides over city council meetings.
The mayor said the council is likely to vote on the matter over the next two meetings on June 21 and July 5.
