Columbus City Council last night approved an income tax break for a California-based mortgage lender planing to open an office in the Short North.
Upstart Newtwork plans to create 100 jobs when it opens the office at a North High Street building. Council candidate and frequent city hall critic Joe Motil calls the deal corporate welfare:
Columbus development director Steve Schoeny says the city was competing with others in the region for the project:
Council also approved an 89 thousand dollar contract with a landscaper to plant nearly 300 additional street trees in requested neighborhoods. Sponsoring Council member Elizabeth Brown:
Earlier this year council approved funding to plant more than 600 trees. And last year, the city spent 140 thousand dollars to plant more than 800 street trees. 39 thousand of the 300 thousand trees then-Mayor Michael Coleman announced in 2015 would be planted by 2020 are in the ground.
