Rev. Dock Foster, Sr., Pastor Ste Tort 2 ‘There are a few principles that most Americans hold dear, whether they are liberal or conservative, Democrat or Republican. One of these principles is that our government - at every level - should conduct its business transparently and be accountable to citizens. Unfortunately, as we've learned during the past several months, that is a principle not always adhered to at Cincinnati City Hall. A City Council faction that calls itself “the Gang of Five" are flagrantly disobeying a court order to turn over documents as part of the discovery process in a lawsuit. The suit challenges the illegal secret meetings that began shortly after the new council was sworn in and appear to have continued at least until April of this year ~ well after the lawsuit was filed. In direct defiance of Ohio's Open Meeting Law, this faction has deliberated city business outside of the public eye by using group text messages on their cellphones. Led by Councilmember P.G Sittenfeld, the faction includes Tamaya Dennard, Greg Landsman, Chris Seelbach and Wendell Young. So far, the Gang of Five has turned over some of the text messages to a judge. Anyone who reads, them can tell it appears the council faction continued these secret meetings even though they knew they were illegal. This is gross neglect of the public trust. ‘The text messages also reveal Councilmember Seelbach promised his support to Cincinnati's, previous City Manager in exchange for the City Manager vowing to back actions sought by thep councilmember on the streetcar and the “responsible bidder ordinance.” That smacks of quid pro quo. ‘Amazingly, the Gang of Five has even admitted to texting each other during City Council meetings. ‘This lack of shame and disrespect for the law has created an untenable situation at City Hall. Facing legal pressure, the Gang of Five leaked some text messages to their political ally, Derek Bauman, in an unsuccessful attempt to drag Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman into the lawsuit. ‘This underhanded maneuver happened ata time when the Vice Mayor's family was dealing with his wife's serious illness. His wife is now receiving home hospice care. It was this attempt to drag the Vice Mayor into the lawsuit that created the need for the City to hire ‘outside legal counsel, wasting taxpayer dollars that could otherwise be used to help struggling ‘African-American children and families. One reason the Gang of Five has tried to prevent the rest of the text messages from being released publicly is they are potentially “embarrassing.” The City’s money and resources shouldn't be squandered trying to protect people's reputations caused by their own words. The City of Cincinnati has more important problems to tackle using limited resources. We know from the text messages released so far the Gang of Five insulted Mayor Cranley, calling ‘him slurs like “little sucker.” Let's be clear: The Gang of Five pontificates publicly about transparency, while holding secret deliberations behind the scenes. The Gang of Five preaches civility in public,but privately describes colleagues using vile and crude language. ‘This sorry situation reminds us ofa passage from the Bible. John 3:20 states, “Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” pat Glee It’s well past time thapthe Gang of Five-comes clean with the Citizens of Cincinnati ty CL hymen Pew fay htlig eshoehnnite Gala’ Church Aired Pocsctheiext: Cony tem Mice haf>y ww VO wed ane Lrvh re 0) Femetlten 5 > (on figeee Yeah i