Shayla D. Favor

About Councilmember Shayla D. Favor

Councilmember Shayla D. Favor was appointed to fill the unexpired term of newly elected Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Judge Jaiza Page on January 14, 2019.

Prior to joining Council, Favor served as an Assistant City Attorney in Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein’s office. As a Zone Attorney, Favor had the opportunity to litigate high-profile environmental lawsuits, advise administrative and local governmental agencies, and draft several pieces of legislation. Favor worked alongside the leaders of our city and community to provide essential city services to improve Columbus’ neighborhoods and facilitate conversations to address criminal activity, vacancies, abandonment, and blight.

While serving as a Zone Attorney, Favor implemented two initiatives to address our City’s blight; the Vacant and Abandoned Property program, along with Receivership program, have both addressed blight through enforcement, demolition and rehabilitation. These initiatives have effectively helped to decrease our vacant and abandoned property count and to put once-blighted properties back into the housing market.

The manifestation of the disparities that lie within historically marginalized communities can be identified through the examination of the racial wealth gap, the lack of access to employment opportunities, quality education, health care and affordable housing. As a member of Council, Favor is intentional about focusing her work to ensure that everything she legislates and advocates for is filtered through an equity lens in order to address these disparities and combat racism through policy.

During her tenure, Favor has created the Columbus Youth Council, spearheaded the effort to amplify and fund Deliver Black Dreams and expanded the City’s effort to protect immigrant and refugee families through the Columbus Families Together Fund. She has also worked extensively on policies intended to address housing insecurity through the Housing for All legislative package, advocated for public safety reforms with the Reimagining Safety Initiative, and worked on a three piece legislative package to protect reproductive care in the City. Favor is also passionate about gun reform and successfully championed  common sense gun reform legislation in 2022.

In addition to serving on Council, Favor serves on the Executive Board of the John Mercer Langston Bar Association, whose purpose is to be a facilitator of excellence within the legal profession while encouraging community service for those in need. Favor also serves on the Executive Board for the annual design conference, Creative Control Fest. Creative Control Fest aims to provide a platform for creatives of color in the industries of art, music, design, activism, tech, scholarship and entrepreneurship.

Favor lives on the Near-Eastside of Columbus with her husband Corey Favor and their pups, Hudson and Arizona.