A discussion Tuesday on refining the policy for Trotter Convention Center usage sent one city councilman on a lengthy tirade fueled by personal offense.

At different points during Roderick Smith’s grievance over resistance to his hosting a Thanksgiving luncheon rent-free at the Trotter, the first-term Ward 2 councilman shouted, talked over his colleagues and called Mayor Stephen Jones a coward. He also issued a somewhat vague warning to his fellow elected officials.

“I’m sick and tired of people thinking they can play and do certain things,” Smith said during the council meeting at the Municipal Complex. “As of today, the whole entire council will know that you will not be able to play with Councilman Smith on (a) day that ends in ‘d-a-y.’ That’s not a threat. That’s a promise.”

The issue centered on whether Smith’s event, as well as two bingo and community information gatherings planned by Ward 4 Councilwoman Lavonne Harris, qualified for free Trotter rental under city policy. All three events were set to be sponsored by the parks and recreation department and free for the public to attend. The council was poised to decide the matter Tuesday, but Harris and Smith each pulled their respective events from the agenda at the beginning of the meeting.

Under the policy, which the council adopted in April 2024, only city events hosted for municipal purposes qualify for complimentary use.

During a work session Sept. 9, Ward 6 Councilman Jason Spears started the conversation about better defining what events qualified, suggesting they need to be free and open to the general public. But Tuesday, Spears suggested an overhaul of the entire policy.

“I think the policy is good bones, but I think we need to be a little bit more structured,” Spears said.

He gave an example of the city hosting an employee Christmas party at the convention center as something the existing policy doesn’t define.

“Are we going to charge ourselves for our employees to use it (because) it’s not open to the public for that special event?” he asked.

Spears also held up a stack of rental agreements he said were held at the Trotter since the council adopted its policy. Some of those events garnered council approval. Others did not.

“There hadn’t been consistency overall since that happened,” he said. “… We should go back to the drawing board overall (on access to public facilities).”

He pushed for a policy that would make sure Trotter facilities generated revenue “and there doesn’t seem to be one priority or one person … getting a better deal than the next person.”

Smith chimed in, taking personally the timing of the policy conversation. Specifically, he took issue with how many rent-free events were scheduled at the Trotter, including two of Harris’ bingo events held there earlier this year.

“Since my name is up there using the Trotter Convention Center, now it’s become a problem,” Smith said. “Every amenity the city of Columbus has has a price tag. People have been using those amenities for complimentary usages. But since Councilman Smith is up there to do a Thanksgiving luncheon, that’s where the confusion comes in at. … So the issue ain’t the policy. It’s the person.”

Harris’ two previous bingo events never came before the council, both Harris and Jones confirmed.

Harris, also in her first term, previously said she was unaware of the policy, since it was approved by the previous council, and coordinated those events with the parks department. For her part, she agreed with Spears that the council needs to shore up a more specific policy before approving any other rent-free events at the Trotter.

‘You a coward!’

That was not good enough for Smith, who then began sparring with the mayor.

“Why (wasn’t) the policy … brought up then?” Smith asked.

“It should have been,” Jones replied.

“Well, it wasn’t,” Smith pressed.

“But that don’t mean you keep doing wrong just because you did wrong,” Jones said.

Sticking with the “special treatment” argument, Smith noted everyone on the council knew about Harris’ previous bingo events – regardless of whether it approved them – and the mayor even attended.

“Why the policy got to be brought up now? … When Zumba in Pink was brought up, did we bring up the policy? No we did not,” Smith said, referencing an event that Jones’ wife organizes each year for breast cancer awareness that has not used Trotter facilities. Then Smith raised his voice and repeated, “No we did not.”

At that point, Jones attempted to gavel Smith down.

“I’m a councilman just like you’re the mayor,” Smith shouted in protest.

“That doesn’t matter,” Jones replied. “I still run the meeting. So, order. Order.”

“Just like I said, it’s good for you, but it ain’t good for anybody else,” Smith continued as the mayor tried to speak.

“Ain’t nothing good,” Jones said.

As Spears unsuccessfully tried to intervene to restore order, Smith kept yelling at Jones.

“You a coward! A coward! You want to do stuff your way, but we’re not gonna do it your way no more,” Smith said.

Spears finally got a word in.

“I know this may be a contentious issue on some levels, but in my opinion, we’re better than this,” he said.

But order wasn’t restored for long, as Smith again accused the mayor of singling out his event in an effort to keep it from happening. He then alleged Jones had coordinated with Vice Mayor Ethel Stewart, who represents Ward 1, and Ward 3 Councilman Rusty Greene at last week’s work session to bring up the policy.

“You and Councilman Greene have never voted on nothing together under the last administration,” Smith told Jones, who represented Ward 5 last term. “When you was a councilman, y’all never voted on anything together. Now, all the sudden, y’all are voting together. Come on, man. I know politics.”

“Obviously, you don’t,” Jones quipped before turning to Greene. “Did I ask you to do anything?”

Smith drowned out Greene’s attempt to answer.

“Of course he’s going to say no,” Smith yelled.

“You don’t know anything,” Greene clapped back. “Just a bunch of accusations. You don’t know nothing.”

Smith later took issue with Main Street Columbus receiving an annual appropriation from the city and getting free use of the Trotter for events.

Later, when a Main Street representative asked the city to buy more holiday decorations for downtown – decorations the city owns and for which Main Street is the steward – Smith complained more, then cast the sole vote against the purchase.

“Again, it’s certain things for certain people,” he said.

Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.