By 700 WLW News
Jan 27, 2021
(Cincinnati, OH) - Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley has announced the people he wants to serve on the Economic Development Reform Panel.
During 2020 three members of Cincinnati City Council were charged by the federal government for their alleged roles in separate corruption cases. Former Democratic councilwoman Tamaya Dennard was sentenced to a year and a half in prison for wire fraud. Republican councilman Jeff Pastor is charged with bribery after his arrest in November. Democratic councilman P.G. Sittenfeld was also arrested in November for alleged bribery.
Retired Hamilton County Common Pleas Court judge Ann Marie Tracey has been chosen to chair the panel.
0:51 So if anyone worries or has questions about whether or not there is a price tag in terms of public trust, the fact that there aren t any development deals on our calendar today should assure everyone that this matters, he said. So if we have to spend some money, I think that s OK. Obviously, I hope that we re able to do it spending as little as possible but… you get what you pay for and we have to get this right.
Council Member Betsy Sundermann agrees corruption needs to be addressed but says $100,000 for a volunteer panel is not something she feels comfortable voting on.
Landsman wants to tighten city s scorecard that awards tax abatements to developers
Says Council shouldnât negotiate development deals
Landsman is proposing an update to the city s 2017 developer project scorecard. These are measurements developer should meet before being awarded a tax abatement or TIF dollars.
and last updated 2020-12-15 19:38:48-05
CINCINNATI â City Hall has a problem.
âThis is as serious of an issue as there is. And a lot of it has to do with trust and how the public perceives us,â said City Councilman Greg Landsman.
The trust issue comes after seeing three Cincinnati City Council members Tamaya Dennard, Jeff Pastor and P. G. Sittenfeld accused in federal bribery investigations this year. Each case involved pay-to-play support for development projects in the city.