Comments on the City Funding of Green Umbrella

One of my first records requests, in December 2024, was for the last several years of risk assessments carried out by the management of the city. The city’s website says that the city performs a risk assessment every two years and uses it for audit planning purposes.

But in response to my request, I was told that the last risk assessment was in 2014 and that “due to limited resources the city does not conduct a risk assessment every year.” Apparently, not even every decade.

I later asked for records in April 2025, concerning the costs of the Green Cincinnati Plan and the Connected Communities zoning plan. I was told that my request was not proper because it would require the city to conduct research, which the open records law does not require. I was seeking labor management cost accounting system records (my terminology) that would show how much staff time and expenses had been devoted to those two work products. I concluded that the city does not maintain such a system.

In July 2026, I made an initial request for records concerning the city’s relationship with Green Umbrella. My request was denied based on the city’s determination that Ohio law allowed it to withhold records concerning economic development projects. (RC 966.D) The law was amended effective September 23^rd and it limited the records that could be withheld under the statute. So, I re-submitted my request soon thereafter and received two partial responses last week. (Nov 4th and 5th)

I have taken an initial look at the records and was able to identify a number of grants and contracts between the city and Green Umbrella’ which is provided below.

More work is necessary to reconcile the records produced by the city with the Ohio Checkbook, which shows that since 2022, the city has paid Green Umbrella over $2 million.

One of the documents I received could, I guess, be considered a type of risk assessment. The mayor mentioned it in his recent State of the City address. Apparently, Green Umbrella has helped produce a report about the risks of Cincinnati not being prepared for “climate migration readiness ” in the year 2025.

But on the bright side, according to city records, Green Umbrella gave the city a $500 discount on the $5000 membership dues for being a founding member of the Regional Climate Collaborative