Six Cincinnati City Council members decided fellow Councilman Wendell Young had to go, but Wednesday their votes fell one short of the total needed to suspend him.
Young got into trouble by deleting text messages, something he admits, which were part of 2018's "Gang of Five" investigation, where Young and four other council members texted each other, illegally making decisions about city business in violation of Ohio's Sunshine Law.
Like Young, some of the Gang of Five remain on council. Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman had asked for an opinion from the Ohio Ethics Commission if all council members would be able to vote on the suspension but City Solicitor Andrew Garth said he did not get a definitive answer.
As council members were preparing to decide, Steve Goodin proposed holding the measure to suspend Young until Greg Landsman and Chris Seelbach, also members of the Gang of Five, contacted the Ohio Ethics Commission to see if they could cast a vote.
"This Gang of Five nonsense has haunted this chamber and this council for better than three years now and at some point it has to end," says Goodin.
Seelbach and Landsman said they would not seek an opinion, so the vote went ahead. Council members Seelbach, Landsman, David Mann, Liz Keating, Betsy Sundermann and Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney voted to suspend Young. Smitherman and Goodin abstained, which left the measure without the seven necessary votes. Young, who was present at the meeting, could not cast a vote.
Even voting yes, Council Member Kearney said, "I want to say to Council Member Wendell Young you deserve better than this. I firmly believe you will be exonerated of those charges against you and the truth will come to light."
Vice Mayor Smitherman wonders if the effort to oust Young was racially motivated. "As I look at the make-up of the total self-proclaimed Gang of Five I'm being asked, 'Should I suspend or remove another member of council who happens to be African American and certainly did not do the offenses the others did? They're not even in the same stratosphere."
How Council Was Able to Take A Vote To Oust Young
Coucil Member Sundermann pushed for Young's ouster after voters approved a charter amendment giving council the authority to suspend a member indicted on felony charges related to their job on council.
"How could we not do this right after people voted for it?" Sundermann said at the time. "If we don't do it, I think we would have to explain to 77 percent of the voters why we're not following through with what they wanted."
The Criminal Investigation Continues
Young has pleaded not guilty to a tampering with records charge in Hamilton County Court.
Special Prosecutor Patrick Hanley filed the charge. He says Young broke the law. Young told several local media outlets he deleted the messages before an order not to do so.
A commission appointed by the Ohio Supreme Court is currently considering whether to suspend Young. A Hamilton judge would then name his replacement.
