Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther had just finished announcing a proposed capital projects budget for next year that he said was heavily focused on crime-fighting and public safety when he asked if anyone had any questions.
“I’ve got one,” said a quiet voice from the lobby outside the room, crowded with press and city officials. In slowly strode Dorethea Dudley, 57, a resident of the new Bretton Woods senior-living apartment complex in Northland that Ginther used as the backdrop for his announcements Wednesday morning. Dudley, moving past Ginther’s staff using a cane, got right to the point.
Her concerns didn’t involve the safety of the Short North, a hot topic at the presser following a mass shooting there in which 10 people were wounded last weekend , but of her own apartment complex parking lot, where teenage boys — some she fears may be armed — are breaking into cars routinely at night. Dudley stood at a window in April and videotaped two youths stealing her 2022 Kia, resulting in major engine damage.