Ottawa City Commissioners voted at Wednesday night’s meeting, December 3rd, to pull funding from the Franklin County Development Council starting in January. The vote came after an intense, nearly hour long, debate that saw some commissioners insisting that the city could do the job in house and some saying they had major reservations about cutting the funding to something so crucial to the city. In the end, Commissioner Sara Caylor made a motion:
in a split vote, commissioners Caylor, Clayton, and Mayor Emily Allen voted for ceasing funding, Commissioners Crowley and Skidmore voting no.
In a letter sent yesterday by FCDC Director, Paul Bean, he says it was a disappointing decision by the city and would have a huge financial impact on the organization. He says the executive board will meet on Monday to discuss where they go from here. He adds that he does not expect FCDC to go away, but their support for efforts in Ottawa will be drastically impacted.
