About Councilmember Remy

Councilmember Emmanuel V. Remy has served the residents of Columbus on City Council since January 8, 2018. He is Chair of the Administration, Environment, and Public Safety Committees.

During his tenure on Council, Emmanuel has worked to meet and better understand the needs of each neighborhood in Columbus. Under his direction, the City has created new programs to better serve residents, reviewed and amended policies to foster more diversity in City staff hiring, and ushered in a new Council Districting Map for the 2023 Election of Columbus City Councilmembers.

As Chair of the Environment Committee, Emmanuel created the Cleaner Columbus Initiative in 2019, designed to promote educational opportunities and public engagement to combat litter, promote recycling, and stop illegal dumping with help from Scarlet the Litter Cardinal. In November 2020, the Cleaner Columbus Employment Program pilot using CARES Act funding launched with great success. In just three weeks, this program temporarily employed residents at $15 an hour to clean up litter in various neighborhoods. In 2021 Councilmember Remy led the Cleaner Columbus Student Grant that gave $500 to student organizations that cleaned up litter and continued the Cleaner Columbus Employment Program. In 2022 Cleaner Columbus hosted a Community Cleanup in April 2022 and launched a public service announcement campaign to educate residents and visitors about the ramifications of littering. Emmanuel is looking forward to continuing and growing this work into 2023 and beyond.

Outside of Emmanuel’s committee work, his office has a strong passion for Welcoming and resettlement work in Columbus. In 2019 Columbus City Council and Emmanuel hosted the City’s first ever Naturalization Ceremony in Council Chambers. In 2020 his office was awarded grant dollars through Welcoming America to create a Resilient Rapid Response Initiative which led to contracting with local partners to create and disseminate COVID-19 PSA videos in multiple languages. Most recently Emmanuel helped create “Central Ohio’s Plan for Welcoming Immigrants and Refugees” by partnering with US Together, Franklin County Commissioner Kevin Boyce, Welcoming America, and the American Immigration Council through the Gateways for Growth (G4G) Initiative grant. Columbus City Council and Central Ohio partners will continue to promote and work on recommendations from the Welcoming Plan this year.

Emmanuel serves on the Greater Columbus Arts Council as a Board Member for Columbus City Council and is heavily involved in the National League of Cities, having served on numerous boards and task forces and attending City Summits and Congressional Conferences annually.

Emmanuel works as a Realtor by trade, specializing in the residential market to help buyers realize their dreams. Emmanuel is married to his wife, Liz, who works as a teacher with Columbus City Schools and serves as the Columbus Education Association (CEA) representative for her school. They have three children enrolled in Columbus City Schools.

Prior to joining Council, Emmanuel spent 6 years as the president of the Northland Community Council (NCC). With over 130,000 residents covering 25 square miles of the city of Columbus, Northland represents a diverse population that reflects the greater City as a whole.