Roughly a week after Cincinnati City Councilmember Tamaya Dennard was arraigned on federal charges of accepting money for her vote, she announced today that she will step down from her office.
“It is with great sadness that I announce my resignation effective today,” Dennard said in a statement released today by her legal team. “The last thing I want is to be a distraction from the work that needs to be done for this city. I need all of my time and energy to address these charges against me.”
Councilmember P.G. Sittenfeld will pick her replacement. Under the city’s charter, each councilmember designates another to appoint a temporary successor should the councilmember leave office. Dennard was previously Sittenfeld’s chief of staff and helped work on his campaign for U.S Senate.
Dennard is accused of soliciting $15,000 from Frost Brown Todd attorney Tom Gabelman last year as the city and Hamilton County battled about a complicated landswap enabling a music venue at The Banks. Dennard, who indicated she was having trouble paying her rent after helping her mother, allegedly asked Gabelman for the money via text and suggested she would sign a promissory note to make it a loan.
Gabelman refused, according to an affidavit written by an FBI agent, and then reported the request to federal authorities. Working with investigators, he then recorded conversations and participated in a money exchange with Dennard, giving her $10,000 and another $5,000 on separate occasions. Those payments were predicated on favorable votes in council, the affidavit alleges.
Yesterday, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters said Dennard had 48 hours to resign or he would initiate efforts to remove her from office. Deters said he would work with Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost on a process spelled out in Ohio law that involves the state Supreme Court to suspend Dennard from office.
Deters today released a statement saying that would no longer be necessary.
“I was prepared to file a petition with the Ohio Supreme Court to ask for her removal,” he said. “Since she has resigned, that will not be necessary. Had Ms. Dennard continued on city council with this matter pending in federal court, the taxpayers and citizens of our community would have reason to doubt any official action she took. Her resignation is a good step for the city and for her personally.”
If that process had been successful, Hamilton County Probate Court Judge Ralph Winkler would have appointed Dennard’s temporary replacement. Dennard would have received her council salary during her suspension — $65,000 a year — but would have to pay the money back if she was convicted of the charges against her.
Today, fellow Democratic City Councilmember Greg Landsman called for Dennard to step away from her position.
“What matters most for the city and those we serve is for us to be totally focused on the job we were elected to do,” Landsman said in a statement. “Tamaya needs to be focused on her legal issues. She should step down, for the city’s sake and for hers.”
Landsman recently admitted he had given Dennard two $500 loans last year, but cited legal advice from Cincinnati City Solicitor saying that the loans didn’t present ethical issues.
Federal investigators say they have identified $20,000 in deposits into Dennard’s bank accounts from unknown sources.
Dennard faces up to 50 years in prison if convicted on the federal charges — 20 years for an extortion charge, 20 years for a wire fraud charge and 10 years for a bribery charge.
This article appears in Best Of Cincinnati 2020 (12098053).