A century ago, reformers significantly changed the way Cincinnati s city government works.
Those reforms didn t come out of the blue. They were in response to a corrupt political machine that had run the city for decades, mostly under the direction of George Boss Cox, a bar owner and powerful behind-the-scenes powerbroker. Cox traded favors for votes and government contracts, keeping his fellow Republicans in power through the late 19th and into the early 20th centuries.
With corruption and government ethics front of mind for many Cincinnatians these days, what can we learn from the Boss Cox era and subsequent reforms?