cincinnati Judge blasts council members for secret texting, emails

Associated Press

CINCINNATI

An Ohio judge has called for the resignations of five Cincinnati council members who admitted using secret texts and emails to conduct city business.

Judge Robert Ruehlman of Hamilton County Common Pleas Court also said Thursday that they should reimburse taxpayers for the more than $100,000 the city is paying to settle a lawsuit brought against them by conservative activists for violating Ohio’s open meetings law.

The council members are all Democrats, comprising a majority of the nine-member council. Judge Ruehlman is a Republican.

Judge Ruehlman says “no city voter should ever vote for them again.”

The council members are Tamaya Dennard, Greg Landsman, Chris Seelbach, P.G. Sittenfeld and Wendell Young. None has indicated any plans to resign.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports many of their texts were directed against Mayor John Cranley, also a Democrat.