Mayor Michael B. Coleman is now serving in his third term as Mayor of the City of Columbus, Ohio. Prior to serving as Mayor, Coleman served as President of Columbus City Council from 1997 – 1999 and as a member of Council beginning in 1992. In addition to serving Columbus, the Mayor is married to Frankie Coleman, and they have three grown children: Kimberly, Justin, a Columbus Police Officer and J.D. a Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Mayor Coleman is committed to improving the quality of life for families in Columbus' neighborhoods. Since taking office in 2000, the Mayor has leveraged incentives to create and retain more than 30,000 jobs, at companies like Skybus Airlines, Columbus’ hometown airline. Working with businesses and community groups he has increased the development of new homes for families, spurring construction through City incentives of more than 12,500 new housing units. This includes the work of the Columbus Franklin County Affordable Housing Trust Corporation and units in the Neighborhood Investment Districts, which Coleman created to leverage private investment in building quality, affordable housing. Mayor Coleman also created the Columbus Urban Growth Corporation as a partner to drive public-private development deals to create new housing and jobs at sites including: Four Corners in South Linden; West Edge Business Center in Franklinton; and the mixed use redevelopment of the Northland Mall site currently being developed into Northland Village. In addition, Mayor Coleman has led the restoration of the King Lincoln District after decades of neglect and blight, around the $10 million cornerstone project – the restoration of the historic Lincoln Theater. The area is rebounding with seven major commercial and residential projects totaling $30 million in new private investments.

Mayor Coleman worked with business leaders to start a massive revitalization initiative for downtown, including the creation of the Columbus Downtown Development Corporation in 2002 with the responsibility of implementing the City’s Downtown Business Plan. Since 2002 more than 5,000 new apartments and condos have been built or are under development; a new downtown park system is being designed; 2,900 jobs have been moved into downtown, and there has been more than $2.18 billion in new investment.

The Mayor also focused squarely on quality of life initiatives, through innovative programs like Neighborhood Pride, a proactive effort to engage residents and businesses as partners in fix up thousands of homes and clean up their neighborhoods. In 2006, the Mayor created the HOME AGAIN program and set aside $25 million to acquire, rehab and tear down vacant and abandoned houses in Columbus neighborhoods. To date, more than 600 homes have been impacted.

Committed to being a practical partner with parents and teachers, Mayor Coleman created the City’s first Office of Education in 2000 and has advanced education initiatives like the Capital Kids network of after school programs. More than 6,600 youth have been served through Capital Kids. 

In 2007, Mayor Coleman announced the creation of the 2012 Columbus Bicentennial Commission to celebrate Columbus’ history and to set a community ambition of ideas, initiatives and goals that will continue to transform Columbus into the best place in the nation to live, work, play and raise a family.

Mayor Coleman has a proven record of balancing budgets, and Columbus is one of the only major cities in the nation to maintain a AAA Bond rating from all three Rating Agencies. Since 2000, Mayor Coleman has spent more than $70 million less than budgeted from every City department except the Department of Public Safety without reducing neighborhood services and while continuing to hire new Police Officers and Firefighters.

Mayor Coleman graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1977 with a degree in Political Science. He earned his law degree from the University of Dayton Law School in 1980.