The mayor who gave "swagger" to what was once a mild-mannered and overlooked Midwestern city announced he won't seek re-election next year. Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman stunned some of his supporters yesterday when he said his time as mayor will end with his fourth term in December of 2015. Surrounded by family, friends and city employees he made the announcement in the City Council chamber where his political career began 21 years ago.

The mayor who gave �swagger� to what was once a mild-mannered and overlooked Midwestern city announced he won�t seek re-election next year.

Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman stunned some of his supporters yesterday when he said his time as mayor will end with his fourth term in December of 2015. Surrounded by family, friends and city employees he made the announcement in the City Council chamber where his political career began 21 years ago.

Coleman, Columbus� first African-American mayor, is the longest-serving mayor in the city�s history. He currently is the longest-serving black mayor in the country.

�Serving as your mayor has been an incredibly fulfilling journey,� Coleman said. �I have led this city through the best and the worst of times; through economic crisis and, now, a renaissance."

In a neatly tailored black suit and his usual side-mouth grin, Coleman joked during his 10-minute address that he was reconsidering his decision after listening to U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty sing his praises in her introduction, in which she called him �a legend.�

Turning serious, Coleman said he decided a week ago on his 60th birthday to step aside. He didn�t start telling even his closest allies and friends until Monday.

�The moment (of the announcement) was big for me and it came together in a couple hours,� Coleman said in an interview after his announcement. �Most people in that room didn�t know about it until today. It was very moving and it was great. It got me.�

Coleman said he�ll focus in his final year on landing the Democratic National Convention in 2016.

National Democrats are considering Columbus along with Brooklyn and Philadelphia as the site of their 2016 political convention.

�I have another 13 months left on my term, and I don�t intend to spend them looking through old photo albums,� Coleman said.

Coleman admitted that he �weighed heavily� running again so that he�d be mayor if the convention comes to Columbus. But he said the convention would take place in the first year of his fifth term, and it wasn�t worth staying the next three years, when he�d be 65.

�The other part of that is, I am still chairman of the (convention host) committee, so in 2016 I will still be in charge of it as head of the convention effort,� he said. �Whether I am mayor or not, I will still be responsible for the success.�

What�s next for Coleman is unknown, as is who will be the city�s next leader.

Coleman�s decision to finish out his term is notable because if he had stepped down, City Council President Andrew J. Ginther would have been appointed mayor and could have run as an incumbent.

Among Democrats, several names were circulating yesterday as potential mayoral candidates, including Ginther, Beatty, Councilwoman Michelle M. Mills and Franklin County Sheriff Zach Scott.

For Republicans, it�s unclear who might run, though one name that immediately surfaced was that of state Sen. Jim Hughes, of Columbus. Doug Preisse, co-chairman of the county Republican Party, said he has had �serious conversations with four to five people interested.� Preisse declined to name them.

Beatty, who Coleman chose to introduce him at his announcement yesterday, shed little light on whether she wants to be mayor. Yesterday, she said, was �about Mayor Coleman and his leadership� and not her political career.

Ginther was purposefully not at Coleman�s announcement yesterday. He has made it known to many that he desires to succeed Coleman.

Ginther said yesterday he would not comment on his plans.

�This is about Mayor Coleman and giving him all the accolades due to him,� Ginther said. �Bar none, he�s the best mayor in the country and has given so much to this great city.�

Those who want to run must file petitions with the Board of Elections by Feb. 4.

Coleman has plenty of options for his post-mayoral future.

National Democrats have asked if he would consider a run for U.S. Senate against Republican Rob Portman. Those close to Coleman said he is considering it, but many believe it is a long shot that he would run.

Coleman, a lawyer, could also land a job in the private sector. Mayor Greg Lashutka took a job as an executive at Nationwide after he decided not to run for a third term in 1999.

Coleman won the mayor�s office that year, defeating Dorothy Teater, a longtime Republican county commissioner and city councilwoman. It was the closest of the four mayoral elections he would run in and he won it by 20 percentage points.

His tenure has endured layoffs, financial struggles in two recessions and, more recently, a frustrated attempt to overhaul the city�s school district. He also established programs to reduce gang violence and has cracked down on slumlords through tougher code enforcement.

The city�s financial struggles ended in 2009 when Coleman persuaded voters to increase the city�s income tax to 2.5 percent from 2 percent.

Coleman also focused on Downtown and neighborhood development. His administration launched or supported initiatives to remake the Scioto riverfront, including the Scioto Mile, North Bank Park and the demolition of a dam near Main Street that returned the river to its natural course and created acres of new Downtown parkland.

Using his state of the city speeches as a bully pulpit, Coleman launched plans to revive neighborhoods such as Weinland Park, the Near East Side and Franklinton, where city money and tax breaks backed new development.

He was also the only mayor of the state�s four casino host cities to speak out against legalizing gambling in Ohio.

He then backed plans to use part of the city�s share of casino tax revenue to support the public purchase of Nationwide Arena. That deal, estimated at $250 million in purchase and operating subsidies through 2039, included assurances from the Columbus Blue Jackets that the hockey team would remain in Columbus through at least 2039.

Coleman �volunteered� his leadership to the Columbus City Schools after the resignation of Superintendent Gene T. Harris and revelations that administrators tampered with data to make the schools appear to be doing better than they were.

The mayor ended up in ads for a school levy last November that would have raised property taxes in the district by 24 percent. Voters rejected the levy, with 69 percent voting against it.

lsullivan@dispatch.com

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