Who do City Council members and the mayor listen to when making decisions about the city? What about the non-elected officials who also help shape policy?
The question of who has influence at City Hall is impossible to answer unilaterally or comprehensively. Each city official has their own values, ideals and policy priorities — not to mention potential long-term goals for a political career that may extend beyond the city.
The word “influence” can mean different things to different people, or in different contexts. Taking advice from a trusted expert is not the same as feeling pressured or obligated to vote a certain way.
There’s an elephant in the room we have to address before anything else: The fact that three sitting Cincinnati City Council members were arrested in 2020, each federally indicted on charges related to alleged fraud, bribery and extortion related to official city business.
The then-U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio described a “culture of corruption” at City Hall. The indictments were not connected to each other. Two involved allegations of accepting a bribe from developers in exchange for promised favorable votes; the third was unique in that the accepted payments were in the form of campaign donations.
The fallout significantly damaged public trust and prompted officials to initiate changes to city policy, municipal code and even the city charter itself.
You can click to learn more about these scandals here:
- Analysis: Why the ‘culture of corruption’ at Cincinnati City Hall? (2020)
- WVXU’s Trust in Local Government series (2021)
- Trump pardons former Cincinnati Council member P.G. Sittenfeld (2025)
This lesson lays out the laws and policies aimed at ensuring public officials behave ethically.
Paid lobbying
Paid lobbying in local politics is not very similar to paid lobbying on a statewide or national scale.
In a mid-size city like Cincinnati, companies and organizations often communicate directly with city officials, which is not officially considered lobbying. The paid lobbyists most active at Cincinnati City Hall often advocate for city funding to specific organizations (mostly nonprofits), rather than opposing or supporting changes to law or regulation.
Cincinnati municipal code lays out a registration process, which was last updated in 2024. It’s primarily a system for keeping track of paid lobbyists and making that information available to the public.
Who is regulated as a lobbyist?
The municipal code defines a lobbyist as “any person who is engaged by a client to actively advocate,” which means “to promote, advocate, or oppose the passage, modification, or defeat of any legislation by direct communication with any regulated official or staff member.”
A paid lobbyist must register with the Clerk of Council for each client, paying a $45 registration fee each time. Lobbyists must update each registration twice a year, and report the end of a contract with a client within 28 days of termination.
Registration information is available on Legistar, the online platform for the Clerk of Council that also includes filed ordinances, motions, etc:
- Click the “Search Agenda Items” tab at the top of the page
- In the first drop-down to the right of the search bar, select the time frame you want to check
- In the second drop-down menu to the right of the search bar, select “Registration”
- If you’re looking for a specific client or lobbyist, you can narrow the results by entering the name in the search bar
Which city officials are regulated?
Municipal code says “regulated officials” include: the mayor, members of Council, the city manager, assistant city managers, the director of any department created under the charter or administrative code of the city and any person appointed by the mayor and council to any of the city’s independent boards, commissions or advisory bodies.
Campaign donations
Candidates for public office in Cincinnati (mayor and City Council) have to follow campaign finance rules for both the state of Ohio and those specific to the city.
Campaign donation limits are lower in Cincinnati than in the state at large. The cap applies for each election cycle: four years for a mayoral election and two years for a council election.
During each election cycle, the maximum campaign donation for each candidate is:
- from an individual: $1,100
- from a political action committee: $2,700
- from a political party or legislative campaign fund: $10,500
Per state law, a person as young as seven years old can make an individual campaign donation. That means a person could donate the maximum amount from themselves, from their spouse and from each of their minor children who are at least seven years old.
Candidates for Cincinnati office have to report campaign finance information according to state law, and must also report to the Cincinnati Elections Commission. The local reports are available on the city website. You can sort the reports by campaign and/or search for donations from specific people or PACs.
Current city elected officials who are campaigning for elected office outside of the city do not have to follow the city’s campaign contribution limits; instead, they must follow the relevant state and federal contribution caps.
Limits on donations from developers
One change prompted by the three City Council member arrests in 2020 is rules about when developers can make campaign donations.
The rules actually apply to anyone seeking specific types of business with the city, including:
- development incentives: a loan, grant or tax incentive with an estimated potential value of $10,000 or more per year;
- property sale with an estimated fair market value of $200,000 or more;
- zoning changes including text or map amendments, and any items that are required to go before the Cincinnati Planning Commission for a recommendation and then to City Council for a final action.
The period of time during which campaign donations are prohibited is very short; it begins when the ordinance is filed with the Clerk of Council and ends once final legislative action is complete (i.e., the City Council vote). That period of time is often one to three weeks. Donations are still allowed during negotiations with city administration, which can take months.
The city maintains two lists:
- The City Business List includes all “financially interested persons” associated with a project under one of the categories above. People are included on this list as soon as an application is filed, and are removed six months after City Council action.
- The Temporary Prohibition List is for “financially interested persons” who are actively prohibited from donating to city officials. As explained above, this list includes people affiliated with projects that are actively before City Council, usually for a period of one to three weeks.
The prohibition applies to current elected city officials who are actively running a campaign for elected office outside the city.
You can learn more and see both lists on the city website: cincinnati-oh.gov/law/ethics/city-business
Code of Conduct
Another change resulting from the 2020 corruption scandals is the requirement for the mayor and members of council to adopt a code of conduct.
Municipal code says the mayor and City Council shall adopt a code of conduct within 45 days of being sworn in. It covers the actions of each elected official as well as their staff. The code of conduct for the mayor is separate from City Council, but each must include, at minimum:
- recognition of the charter role of the mayor, council and city manager, particularly in development projects and incentives
- recognition of the obligation of elected officials and staff to not attempt to privately interfere with quasi-judicial proceedings of boards of commissioners or the zoning hearing examiner
- cultivating a culture of reporting of conflicts of interest and unethical conduct and a commitment to avoid retaliating against those who report suspected conflicts or unethical conduct
- commitment to understanding and following the applicable ethics and conflict of interest laws
- commitment to attend training at least annually on Ohio ethics laws and other state and local laws pertinent to the role of the mayor/council
- commitment to never use city resources or personnel for political activity
- articulation of rules to maintain a level playing field for private parties dealing with the city, to deter inappropriate behavior, to reinforce proper behavior, and to maintain public confidence in city government
The mayor’s code of conduct must also include:
- recognition of the limitations on the mayor’s ability to negotiate economic development deals without the involvement and approval of the city manager
City Council’s code of conduct must also include:
- commitment to directing inquiries from private parties related to financial assistance or land use approvals to the city manager’s office
Each code of conduct can address other issues. You can see the current code of conduct for elected officials below:
- For Mayor Aftab Pureval, effective for the four-year term beginning Jan. 5, 2026
- For City Council members, effective for the two-year term beginning Jan. 5, 2026
Conflicts of interest
City Council members sometimes recuse themselves from voting on an item due to a potential conflict of interest. Council members typically get an opinion from the city law department on whether recusal is advised; they could also seek an opinion from the Ohio Ethics Commission.
Council members are not required to publicly disclose the reason for recusal, but sometimes the reason is obvious. For example, Vice Mayor Jan-Michele Lemon Kearney is married to Eric Kearney, who is president and CEO of the African American Chamber of Commerce. The AACC often applies for and receives city grant funding, and Lemon Kearney always recuses herself from those funding votes.
Sometimes the connection is less direct. A council member who also works at a local law firm may be recused from voting on a project that involves that law firm, even if the council member has no actual involvement in the project.
There may be privacy reasons for not disclosing the reason for a recusal. Here’s a hypothetical example: a daycare center is buying city property next door to expand their operation. A council member is recused from the vote because their own child attends that daycare center. Disclosing the reason for recusal would reveal that sensitive information.
Financial disclosure statements
Ohio law requires certain elected and non-elected public officials at the state, county and city level, as well as candidates for elected offices, to file a financial disclosure. It requires information such as (not a comprehensive list):
- names of each immediate family member
- each source of income
- the names of each business in which the person holds investment of at least $1,000
- the names of people living in Ohio who owe the person at least $1,000
Cincinnati law also requires a financial disclosure with all the same information, with one addition for elected officials: a list of all financial transactions between members of council or between members of council and the mayor for any single transaction totaling $75 or more, or an aggregate of multiple transactions totaling $75 or more, for gifts, loans or services rendered.
The city-level requirement includes non-elected officials whose “positions involve a substantial and material exercise of administrative discretion in the formulation of public policy, expenditure of public funds, enforcement of laws and rules of the state or city, or the execution of other public trusts.”
At minimum, that includes the city manager, assistant city managers and city department heads; the city manager is authorized to identify other city employees that must file a financial disclosure.
People appointed to advisory boards, or independent boards and commissions, are not required to file a financial disclosure statement.
Most financial disclosures are filed with the Clerk of Council. You can see a list of received disclosures on Legistar, but the actual documents are not posted publicly. Disclosures for employees below the department head level are filed with the employee’s department head.
You can submit a public records request for any individual financial disclosure.
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