More often than not, the plush leather chair and wooden desk in the upper left corner of Columbus City Council with Mayor Andrew Ginther’s name on the front sits empty.
Ginther averages less than one Columbus City Council meeting a year since he took office in 2016. While the mayor of Ohio’s largest city is not required to come to every council meeting, that rule varies from city to city and so do the attendance records of other Ohio mayors.
In place of himself, the mayor sends a small army of city staff and department directors to each meeting to speak on behalf of his cabinet. They often answer questions from the public and council members…