Cincy pays former councilman $55,000 to end contract

CINCINNATI (AP) — Records show Cincinnati officials paid a former councilman $55,000 to end a contract for his work consulting at the city-run sewer district that might have been “inappropriate.”

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports the payout was another example of questions raised by the newspaper’s investigation of lack of oversight of the Metropolitan Sewer District while it was spending hundreds of millions of dollars.

City officials say the payment last June was the best way to resolve a difficult situation with former councilman Sam Malone. But county officials who oversee the sewer district’s budget say the city shouldn’t have used the money to pay Malone for four months of work.

Malone began consulting under a system that allowed the former district director to sign off on $680 million in spending without oversight.