Columbus council hears first reading on COAAA separation as staff and unions demand job protections

Councilmembers heard public testimony and a legal briefing Monday on an ordinance (19-28-2025) that would authorize the director of Recreation and Parks to enter into an agreement with a newly formed regional council of governments and transfer $1,000,000 in accumulated Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging (COAAA) federal and state grant funds to that entity.

The ordinance was discussed during first reading; council did not take a final vote. COAAA leaders and union representatives pressed the city for written guarantees for employees before any separation or transfer of start-up funds.

Katie White, administrator of the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging, told the council that the agency serves nearly 11,000 individuals across eight Central Ohio counties and is facing a mandated operational change. She said Ohio will roll out “MiCare NextGen” in January 2026, shifting long-term services and supports case management from cost-reimbursable grants to risk‑based, fee-for-service contracts. White said the agency needs flexibility to enter new contracts with managed-care organizations, and the ordinance would allow COAAA to operate through the end of 2025 while the regional council of governments (COG) is finalized.

White said COAAA has operated for 51 years as a program of the city’s recreation and parks department but that the change in state contracting means “the agency is not able to be efficient, effective, or competitive” if it remains in its current structure.

Union leaders and COAAA staff described a different experience. Hugh Williams, president of Communication Workers of America Local 4502, said the city has not provided assurances that employees’ jobs, pay rates, insurance and union representation will be preserved if COAAA separates. “This is totally unacceptable,” Williams said, adding that union members “want to know that they will have a job if COAAA separates from the city.”

Longtime COAAA employee and union representative Jane Acree told council the separation announcement has produced “weeks of sleepless nights, headaches, and nausea” for staff. Erica Coles West, a licensed social worker at COAAA, said staff have received limited detail about whether their jobs, wages and benefits will continue and asked the city to provide guarantees in writing that would be negotiated with the unions.

The city attorney briefed council on the legal framework. He said Chapter 167 of the Ohio Revised Code authorizes political subdivisions to create regional councils of governments. Delaware, Licking and Fairfield counties have voted to create the COG; the Ohio Department of Aging has designated that COG as the Region 6 Area Agency on Aging. The ordinance on first reading would authorize the director of Recreation and Parks to enter into an agreement with the Regional Council of Governments for the period July 1 through Dec. 31, 2025, and to transfer $1,000,000 of accumulated COAAA federal and state grant funds to the COG. The attorney emphasized that those funds are not city general fund dollars and “cannot be spent by the city for any other purpose.”

When councilmembers asked how employee concerns would be addressed, “Director Moses” (identified in the meeting as a city official working on the transition) said the city is conducting legal due diligence and has sent meeting dates to both unions. Moses said the city empathizes with staff anxiety and that the administration will continue to meet with union representatives; a meeting before next Monday’s council session was offered (a July 28 meeting date was mentioned during the exchange).

Council members and speakers emphasized the distinction between policy and employment law: White and city staff said the transfer is intended to preserve services and enable the agency to meet new state contracting requirements; union representatives insisted that negotiations over wages, benefits and representation must proceed before start-up money is used to separate employees from city employment.

The ordinance was on first reading; council indicated discussion would continue and that a second reading and potential vote were expected the following week.

Why it matters: COAAA provides case management and long-term services and supports to thousands of older adults. A change in the agency’s legal structure and funding model affects employees’ jobs and benefits, the delivery of services to older residents, and how federal and state grant funds are managed.

What’s next: The council expects a continuation of debate at the next meeting; city staff said it has scheduled meetings with union representatives in the coming days. The ordinance remains pending a formal council vote.