Cincinnati City Council voted Wednesday not to suspend Council Member Wendell Young following his April indictment on a tampering with evidence charge related to the 2018 "Gang of Five" scandal.
Cincinnati City Councilman Wendell Young will remain on council after an effort to unseat him failed.
But a state suspension looms for the Democrat, who is facing a felony charge of tampering with records related to his destruction of text messages about city business in the Gang of 5 civil case.
Republican Councilwoman Betsy Sundermann sought a vote to suspend Young after votes overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure in the May primary giving council members the power to suspend a fellow member if they are indicted or arrested on a criminal charge related to their city job.
She needed a vote of 7, but only got 6.
Plastic bags are here to stay at Cincinnati Kroger stores a little while longer. Kroger is delaying its plans to eliminate single-use plastic bags in the city this June.
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There are no provisions in the Cincinnati Charter that address what should happen if an elected official is charged with a crime. But under state rules. either the state attorney general or prosecutor – in this case Hanley – can move to suspend an elected official who has been charged with a crime.
Cincinnati voters approved a Charter Amendment last week that would allow Cincinnati City Council, with a vote of seven members, to suspend a council member. But that does not go into affect until May 18, when the Hamilton County Board of Elections certifies the official vote. Republican councilwoman Betsy Sundermann has put forward a motion to suspend Young, a Democrat, but that motion has not yet been brought to the floor of council.