Cincinnati City Council

If you have been following Cincinnati politics for the past three or four decades, the recurring debate over how the city elects its nine-member City Council is sort of like being stuck in the movie Groundhog Day.

Cincinnati could soon have a program to help people clear their criminal records if they were charged with having small amounts of marijuana.  

The full council could vote on the expungement ordinance Wednesday.

The debate over a music venue at The Banks has led to questions about how Cincinnati's charter is interpreted and the power of the mayor. Mayor John Cranley said earlier in the week he wouldn't refer legislation about a land swap meant to clear the way for construction until he had questions answered. Councilman David Mann wondered whether that was a form of pocket veto.

The City of Cincinnati is dismissing all charges for 100 grams or less of marijuana.

Cincinnati City Council will be asked Wednesday to approve development agreements, property tax abatements, and financing help for nearly $220 million worth of projects in the city.

Updated: Wednesday, 4:54 p.m.

Cincinnati officially has a city budget for the new fiscal year which starts in two weeks.  

Cincinnati City Council voted five-three Wednesday to decriminalize the possession of less than 100 grams of marijuana.

Cincinnati City Council could vote Thursday on a couple issues related to the FC Cincinnati stadium project in the West End.

A procedural rule prevented Cincinnati City Council from voting Wednesday on an ordinance to take away the penalties for marijuana possession if the city's police department issues citations for such offenses.

Cincinnati City Manager Patrick Duhaney said in a letter Tuesday to the Cincinnati School superintendent that the district's operating revenues have actually increased because of city property tax incentives for developers and a 1999 agreement related to those tax abatements.

That agreement expires this year, and Duhaney said "the city is comfortable with or without an agreement."

Updated April 11, 2:24 p.m.

Hamilton County commissioners are giving the go-ahead to a financing plan to advance a music venue at The Banks. The board voted 2-1 with Commissioner Stephanie Summerow Dumas dissenting, though she declined to say why.

Cincinnati Council approved a motion Wednesday declaring the retaining wall failures and landslides along Columbia Parkway a city emergency.