In a letter today, the Ohio Ethics Commission ruled that five Cincinnati City Council members who violated the state's open meetings laws by texting among themselves can't vote on a motion brought by a political opponent on council seeking to force them to pay back fines and legal fees related to the incident.
Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman filed the motion last month after Hamilton County Judge Robert Ruehlman ordered the release of the texts sent among the five — council members Wendell Young, P.G. Sittenfeld, Chris Seelbach, Greg Landsman and Tamaya Dennard — and between any combination of those individual council members. The texts sent among all five — a majority of city council — related to the tumultuous exit last spring of Cincinnati City Manager Harry Black, who was locked in a bitter feud with Mayor John Cranley. Other texts sent between individual members discuss other city business and sometimes make snarky comments about colleagues.
Ruehlman also ordered that the city pay a $1,000 fine for the open meetings violation, $10,000 because Young deleted some of his texts and $90,000 in legal fees to the Finney Law Firm, which represented conservative activist Mark Miller. Miller, a member of the Smitherman-aligned anti-tax group Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes, brought the lawsuit against the city.
Young also faced contempt of court charges for deleting his texts, but Ruehlman dismissed that charge earlier this month, citing lack of evidence showing when Young deleted the messages.
The city also retained outside legal and technical assistance related to the case worth $75,000, money approved by city council. Smitherman's motion seeks repayment of $176,000 from the five council members to the city.
Motions don't have the weight of law, though Smitherman has also promised he will introduce an ordinance ordering the five council members to pay back the money.
"The five council members are prohibited from voting, participating in discussions or deliberations, or otherwise using their authority or influence, formally or informally, in matters regarding the motion, a resulting ordinance and any related procedural motions that arise under the city council's parliamentary process that affect the motion's passage, tabling, or non-passage," the OEC's letter reads.
It is unclear how Smitherman's items will proceed, as the city's charter calls for a majority of council to vote on all legislation.
Smitherman, an independent who leans conservative, is running for mayor in 2021. Sittenfeld, a Democrat, is expected to be his main opponent.
The OEC's letter, issued after Smitherman sent the ethics commission a question about his motion and potential ordinance last month, deals only with that legislation. In tweets and an email sent by his campaign this morning, Smitherman said the ruling would cause "a constitutional crisis at City Hall."
