Wilmington Weekly with Matt Purkey
Wilmington Weekly is a local podcast focused on Wilmington, Ohio City Council and how local government decisions actually work. Hosted by former Council President, Matt Purkey, the show provides context, explains process, and helps residents better understand what’s happening at city hall and why it matters.
Episodes
35 episodes
Episode Thirty-Five - Council Wrap Up (9/3/26) and Reflections
In Episode Thirty-Five, Matt wraps up Wilmington City Council's September 3, 2026 workshop and regular meeting, including the nearly two-hour public hearing on the US 68 data center rezoning. He covers the death of the old camping ordinance and...
Episode Thirty-Four - Council Preview (9/3/26)
Thursday's meeting could be one of the biggest of the season. Two ordinances tied to a federal consent order, including the data center zoning amendment at the center of this year's biggest story, are positioned to pass with emergency clauses i...
Episode Thirty-Three - Council Wrap Up (8/20/26) and Reflections
Thursday's special meeting produced the strongest finding this show has surfaced all season: sworn testimony that the data center zoning amendment at the heart of this fight may never have been legally initiated in the first place. Fourteen peo...
Episode Thirty-Two - Special Meeting Preview (8/20/26)
Thursday isn't a normal council meeting - it's a special meeting built around two public hearings on the AWS-related ordinances that aren't the big one, both carrying emergency clauses. This episode digs into what's actually in each ordinance, ...
Episode Thirty-One - Council Wrap Up (8/6/26) and Reflections
Council came within one vote of fast-tracking a new public camping ban Thursday night, despite the city's own police chief, prosecutor, and cleanup crew all saying it wasn't ready. It failed to suspend the rules 4-2 and heads to a second readin...
Episode Thirty - Council Preview (8/6/26)
In this episode: the AZEK Group decision, Thursday's light agenda, why the public hearing notice actually matters, the August 20th/September 3rd split on the data center ordinances, and a closer look at O-26-45's history.
Episode Twenty-Nine - Repeal, Replace, or What?
Three ordinances are headed to Wilmington City Council’s August 20th public hearing, all carrying emergency language, all tied to the data center project. In this special episode, Matt breaks down what “emergency” actually means under Ohio law,...
Episode Twenty-Eight - Council Wrap Up (7/16/26) and Reflections
Council voted down a previously unanimous data center ordinance, five to one, with no discussion on the floor, right after the longest executive session of the year. The same night, the city quietly added three public hearings to address the fe...
Episode Twenty-Seven - Council Preview (7/16/26)
A preview of Wilmington City Council’s July 16th meetings, workshop at 6, regular meeting at 7. On the agenda: third readings on the AZEK Group’s Prairie Road zoning and annexation, a same-night second and third reading on updated city salary r...
Episode Twenty-Six - Council Wrap Up (7/2/26) and Reflections
Thursday's council meeting produced two corrections to last week's preview: the CRA Housing Council appointment turned out to be two separate resolutions, and the data center zoning amendment did not reach final passage as expected. Matt covers...
Episode Twenty-Five - Council Preview (7/2/26)
Thursday’s Wilmington City Council meeting carries the heaviest agenda of the season. Council is set to give final passage to the data center zoning text amendment, the same use category currently being challenged in federal court, five days ah...
Episode Twenty-Four - Council Wrap Up (6/18/26) and Reflections
Council took data centers from a permitted use to a conditional one on the same night a separate rezoning locked one specific property out of ever becoming one. A fire department restructuring got its second presentation without becoming an ord...
Episode Twenty-Three - Council Preview (6/18/26)
Episode Twenty-Three previews Thursday's Wilmington City Council workshop and regular meeting. The meeting opens with two public hearings: a zoning text amendment touching the data center use category at the center of an active federal lawsuit,...
Episode Twenty-Two - Council Wrap Up (6/4/26) and Reflections
Episode Twenty-Two is the wrap-up from the Wilmington City Council meeting of June 4, 2026. Thursday night's meeting ran less than an hour. The agenda was light. But light meetings in a heavy season carry weight, and this one leaves out quite a...
Episode Twenty-One - Council Preview (6/4/26)
Thursday night is one of the lighter agendas of the year, but there is enough context worth understanding before the meeting. The workshop opens at 6:00 with Columbus Street parking. The regular meeting follows at 7:00 with the formal appointme...
Episode Twenty — Council Wrap-Up (5/21/26)
Episode Twenty is the wrap-up from the Wilmington City Council meeting of May 21, 2026. This episode opens with a disclosure: Matt served ten years on council, knows people involved, and is not neutral about Wilmington. This was not a usual mee...
Episode Nineteen - Council Preview (5/21/26)
Episode Nineteen is a preview of the Wilmington City Council meetings scheduled for Thursday, May 21, 2026. This episode covers both the 6:00 PM public workshop and the 7:00 PM regular council meeting. Workshop items include the swearing-in of ...
Episode Eighteen - Council Wrap Up (5/7/26) and Reflections
Episode Eighteen is the wrap-up from the Wilmington City Council meeting of May 7, 2026. This episode covers the city treasurer's financial overview, a water tower engineering supplement tied to the AWS data center project, the supplemental app...
Episode Seventeen. - Council Preview (5/7/26)
This episode previews the Wilmington City Council meeting scheduled for Thursday, May 7.The meeting includes a 6 p.m. public workshop followed by the regular Council meeting at 7 p.m.In this preview, I walk t...
Episode Sixteen -Council Wrap Up (4/16/26) and Reflections
This week’s Wilmington City Council meeting was shorter than usual, but it still covered a wide range of topics, including long-term fire department planning, routine legislation, and a fast-moving zoning change that raised important procedural...
Episode Fifteen - Council Preview (4/16/26)
In Episode Fifteen of Wilmington Weekly, Matt previews the Wilmington City Council workshop and regular meeting for Thursday, April 16, 2026.This week’s agenda includes a Wilmington Fire Department organizational structure upd...
Episode Fourteen - Council Wrap Up (4/2/26) and Reflections
In Episode Fourteen, Matt wraps up Wilmington City Council’s April 2, 2026 workshop and regular meeting. He covers the swearing-in of Officer McKenna Branham, Ron King’s introduction from the Clinton County Veterans Service Commission, the five...
Episode Thirteen - Council Preview (4/2/26)
Matt previews the April 2, 2026 Wilmington City Council meeting, including old business on downtown parking, infrastructure, landfill notes, and subdivision review, along with new business on Union Township fire and EMS service, cemetery fundin...
Episode Twelve - Council Wrap Up (3/19/26) and Reflections
This week’s episode covers both the 6:00 public workshop and the 7:00 regular Wilmington City Council meeting on March 19, 2026.That matters, because if you only watch the regular meeting, you miss most of the explanation and ...
Episode Eleven - Council Preview (3/19/26)
In this Wednesday preview, Matt walks through the Wilmington City Council agenda for Thursday, March 19, 2026.The workshop includes a presentation on downtown flowers, plus legislation review on Curtis Drive reconstruction, No...
