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Currently, council members can only be suspended through the Attorney General s Office or if a citizen petitions the Hamilton County Probate Court.
Council Member Betsy Sundermann wants voters to give council the authority to suspend a member internally. Two council members who are currently suspended agreed to that suspension, Sundermann said in committee Tuesday. Had it gone through the lengthy process, we would have been in a little bit of a jam for a while, not knowing if people were allowed to show up and vote.
Under the charter amendment, a felony indictment would trigger a motion for suspension that the full council would consider. Suspension would require at least seven votes on the nine-member council, with the council member in question unable to vote.
Nick Swartsell / WVXU
Cincinnati Council wants voters to change the city charter to address what happens if a council member is indicted on a felony. The Education, Innovation & Growth Committee discussed and passed two proposals Tuesday.
Currently, council members can only be suspended through the Attorney General s Office or if a citizen petitions the Hamilton County Probate Court.
Council Member Betsy Sundermann wants voters to give council the authority to suspend a member internally. Two council members who are currently suspended agreed to that suspension, Sundermann said. Had it gone through the lengthy process, we would have been in a little bit of a jam for a while, not knowing if people were allowed to show up and vote.
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Council passed a motion Wednesday they say is the first step in addressing the problem proactively. The motion asks for a comprehensive report on housing, including identifying city-owned properties that can be converted into affordable housing.
Interim Council Member Steve Goodin says they want to take a systemic approach rather than dealing with it development per development. This is a $30-plus million problem, so we are thinking big and this is the first step, Goodin said.
The motion also establishes a new subcommittee focused on affordable housing, and asks for an accounting of all current funds in the Affordable Housing Trust and identification of potential sources of additional funds.
Wikimedia Commons
Three Cincinnati Council members were charged with creating pay-to-play schemes with a developer last year and elected officials have been scrambling to reinstall the public s trust in governance since then. But the Charter Party which is comprised of Republicans, Democrats and Independents is launching an entire platform centered around corruption reform and transparency.
Matt Woods, president of the local Charter Committee, says, It s kind of our mantra that there isn t a Republican or a Democratic way of filling a pothole there s a Cincinnati way. And so, really, our construct is that we re Republicans and Democrats, but we re really here for the good of the city and for good governance.
Courtesy KEAN Development & Cincinnati City Planning Office
Cincinnati Council s Economic Growth and Development Committee is forwarding an amended proposal for a major mixed-use development in Over-the-Rhine at Liberty and Elm.
The committee on Wednesday voted unanimously in favor of the proposal, sending it to the full council for a vote.
Attorney Thomas Tepe represents the developers. He says although the project had already been approved, this amendment makes it better. It removes the surface parking lot that people had objected to, Tepe said. It lowers the building by 13 feet. It sets back the upper floor of another building by 20 feet, which [are] things that were heard during the process.