Councilmember Zach M. Klein joined City Council in January 2011 and serves as the president of City Council.
As the president of the City Council, Zach M. Klein guides the work of council, presiding at meetings of council and determining the meeting agendas as well as appointing the chair and members of council committees.
Council President Klein chairs council’s Rules & Reference Committee, which
controls the flow of legislation to the floor of the City Council.
Council President Klein believes that Columbus is strengthened by its diversity
and spirit of inclusion. He introduced legislation that created the city’s
domestic partnership registry, and another of his ordinances updated the
contracting code to match the civil rights code and treat people fairly and
consistently regardless of age, disability, familial status and military
status, sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression.
Council
President Klein has long been committed to neighborhood safety and stability. As a former chair of the Development
Committee, Council President Klein lead efforts to close down adult gaming
parlors, established a citywide graffiti removal program, and passed
legislation that increased the number of active Code Enforcement Officers. As the Chair of the Safety Committee, last
year, Council President Klein established City licensing requirements to help
shutdown nuisance hotels and motels.
Council President Klein is a graduate of The Ohio State University and Capital
Law School. As an attorney, he has managed multi-million dollar budgets at the
state and federal level, and prosecuted those who prey upon vulnerable
residents in securities fraud cases. He served as the deputy chief of legal
services for then-Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray and also worked in the
Office of the Vice President of the United States as deputy director of
management and administration.
Council President Klein has served on the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission
and the Capital University Law School Alumni Board. He is also an NCAA
basketball referee. Klein lives with his wife and two young children in
Clintonville.