Cincinnati City Council

Updated: Friday 10:30 a.m.

A major mixed-use development project at Liberty and Elm in Over-the-Rhine has been delayed for two weeks while City Council reviews the details and tries to work affordable housing into the project.

Community leaders gathered at the corner of Liberty and Elm in Over-the-Rhine on Tuesday to voice their displeasure on a development project that's up for a vote in Cincinnati City Council on Wednesday.

The city of Cincinnati will establish a Children and Families Cabinet to provide guidance on health and safety issues affecting children. Council Member Greg Landsman initiated the ordinance. He points to issues like the city's high infant mortality rate and lead poisoning.

Three Cincinnati Council members have been indicted this year and accused of creating pay-to-play schemes with developers. Now, other members of council are deciding exactly how to prevent those kinds of crimes, and they're getting down to the specifics.

Following corruption charges against three former and current Cincinnati City Council members, Vice Mayor Christoper Smitherman is proposing a "forensic audit" in which the city would look back at how all council members voted on development deals over a specific period of time.

Cincinnati native Liz Keating is the newest interim Cincinnati City Council member. She was appointed to the position Friday morning by Hamilton County Probate Judge Ralph Winkler, who said her high energy and the strongly rooted care she has for the community made her stand out from others he considered. 

Racial minorities have historically had unequal opportunities in education, employment and housing. This summer, inequity in policing and the criminal justice system brought millions of people protesting in the streets across the country, including Cincinnati. But over the past few months, it's the inequity in health care that's been pushed into the spotlight due to COVID-19.

Cincinnati's Racial Equity Task Force was appointed earlier this fall and has the tall order of trying to recommend policy to take on these issues.

I don't know if David Pepper, who will leave his six-year stint as Ohio Democratic Party chairman at the end of the month, will run for Cincinnati mayor in 2021.

I do know that he is thinking about it, because he told me he is. But he is nowhere near committing to a race.

Cincinnati City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld on Monday announced he is "temporarily" stepping down as he fights federal charges of bribery. Last month, Sittenfeld became the third City Council member arrested on bribery charges in less than a year. 

The ever-dwindling band of Republicans in the city of Cincinnati haven't had much reason for hope in city politics for two generations now.

But the turmoil and "culture of corruption" at City Hall that has landed three council members in some very hot water – federal charges of bribery and abusing their offices – somehow is giving them a feeling there may be better days to come.

After returning to private life, former Cincinnati Council Member Kevin Flynn will run again for City Council in 2021.

At the Cincinnati Firefighters Union Hall on Tuesday, Flynn said that restoring trust in City Hall is what inspired him to seek reelection, on top of recent events, most notably the indictment of three city council members.

Attorney Steve Goodin will serve in place of suspended Cincinnati Councilman Jeff Pastor. Pastor was suspended last week, after being indicted on federal bribery charges. Hamilton County Probate Judge Ralph Winkler named Goodin to the position Monday morning.

I can't presume to say that Cincinnati Council Member P.G. Sittenfeld's political ambitions, which burned hotter than a match until his recent indictment on felony charges of bribery and extortion, are snuffed out for good.

Jeff Pastor has been suspended from Cincinnati City Council. Pastor was arrested earlier this month on corruption charges. 

Updated: 1:58 p.m.

Cincinnati City Council Member and 2021 mayoral candidate P.G. Sittenfeld is saying he's not guilty of federal charges he accepted $40,000 in bribes from developers in exchange for council votes during 2018 and 2019. 

On the steps of City Hall on Thursday, Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley says it's not hard to argue that there's a "culture of corruption" following the arrest of a third City Council member.

A Cincinnati resident is suing to remove Jeff Pastor from office. The city councilman was indicted earlier this month on 10 counts of extortion, wire fraud, money laundering and accepting bribes.

Murray Seasongood. Ted Berry. Charlie Taft. Bobbie Sterne. And all the others from generations of leaders at Cincinnati City Hall who have upheld the standards of honesty and integrity in the city's council-manager form of government for generations now.

What would they be thinking if they could see the mess that Cincinnati City Council has become?

Two Cincinnati council members are proposing legislation aimed at addressing corruption at City Hall. Council members Betsy Sundermann and Greg Landsman introduced their proposals just an hour apart Monday morning.