Letter to the CSRT Board of Trustees: Follow up to a Local 12 News December 10 report
I sent a letter to the Board of Trustees of the Cincinnati Southern Railway Trust about the issue reported by Local 12 news on December 10, 2025. This the link to the Local 12 report:
My letter is posted below as well as excerpt from the meeting minutes from the Board’s February meeting where this issue was raised directly with the Board
Excerpt of meeting minutes CSRT 2.11.25 highlighted
Public Comments Follow up Email 12.1.25
Public comments follow up email 12.1.25
I offered public comments at yesterday’s meeting (12.1.25) of the City Council’s Budget & Finance Committee. As far as I know, public comments are not included in the minutes of city council meetings. So, I sent a follow up email to the committee last night to document my comments. I included a statement on my email about a provision in the municpal code that requires the internal audit manager submit her budget request directly to th city council, bypassing the city manager. Unfortunately, the city does not comply wih this requirement.
Public records request related to the city’s renegotiated contract with Iris Roley, LLC.
This morning, based on reports that the city has negotiated a new contract with Iris Roley LLC, or more than one new contract, I have requested copies of the contract(s) and associated records. I will let you know of any response from the city.
Letter to City Council Concerning Contracts with Iris Roley LLC
Earlier today, I sent a letter to the City Council with my assessment of the city’s contracts with Iris Roley LLC. The letter details five observations:
- The contracts are “Unauthorized Commitments,” for lack of sufficient justification.
- There is no evidence that the contract terms obtained best value for the taxpayer.
- The Government Square Initiative (GSI) should be a separate, competitive contract.
- Under the procurement rules, Iris Roley LLC is disqualified from the GSI contract.
- There are gaps in the invoices and a lack of documentation and timekeeping
Letter to City Hall re: Conflict-of-Interest Concerns with a “Leveraged Support” Recipient
Ethics Letter to City Hall 92325_compressed
City of Cincinnati Budget Book Update Approved FY25 Leveraged Support
I sent a letter to the mayor and city hall today with a concern about a conflict of interest created by the Mayor’s membership on the Board of Directors of Cintrifuse.
During Mayor Pureval’s term, Cintrifuse has received more than $1 million from the city .
When I first saw the “Leveraged Support” table in the city’s budget, alarms went off, asking myself, “How can the city possibly oversee all of those Leveraged Support and Program Support recipients (54) and assure themselves that the millions of dollars in public funds are being properly spent?” Since that time, I found that there are even more nonprofit organizations receiving city funding – nearly 200, as a result of the Green Cincinnati Plan (71) and Act for Cincy (64).
When I looked at the list of leveraged support recipients, two organizations stood out. One was Cintrifuse, a 501c3 nonprofit that helps start-ups and entrepreneurs. The other is CincyTech, a 501c4 non-profit, which is actually a venture capitalist. It seemed unusual for those particular nonprofits to be receiving substantial funds from the city.
So, that is where I started. As a 501c3 nonprofit, Cintrifuse files public financial reports with the IRS. As a 501c4, CincyTech’s IRS filings are not public.
I visited Cintrifuse and examined the documents that 501c3 organizations are required to make public upon request.
That is when I found that Mayor Pureval was a member of the Cintrifuse Board of Directors. The most recent IRS filing available at Cintrifuse at the time was for 2023, so I sent a letter to Cintrifuse on September 3rd and received confirmation that the mayor remains a member of the Board.
My letter to the mayor and city council suggests corrective action that the city council and mayor could take to remedy the situation.
Update: Public Records Request Concerning Cincinnati’s Collaborative Agreement Consultant
On September 11, 2025, after some back and forth with the city, I received a traunch of 51 documents. The response referred to these documents as a “partial” response. I provide a fuller report about the city’s disclosure on my Blog and include a complete copy of the 2nd amendment to Ms. Roley’s 2024 contract, which is valued at $570,000. Overtime, I will be posting all the documents disclosed by the city in the Reasearch Library.
I submitted a public records request concerning the city’s consultant who was hired in 2022 by Mayor Pureval for the “Collaborative Agreement Refresh.”
https://www.wlwt.com/article/cincinnati-collaborative-agreement-police-force-review/39094038
Request for Records Concerning Contracts Between the City and Iris Roley
This public records request was submited on August 6, 2025. It is requesting records concerning the city’s contracts with Iris Roley, work products, invoices and and payments.
Letter to Ohio Governor DeWine requesting an investigation of the failures of Ohio’s post-release control program August 6, 2025
A violent felon on post-release control (parole) has been charged with the murder of Patrick Heringer in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood of downtown Cincinnati. Patrick’s murder has exposed serious gaps in the post-release control program. The accused was released from prison in January 2025, cut off his GPS ankle monitor in February 2025, and remained a fugitive for four months prior to Patrick’s murder on June 4, 2025.
The post-release control program needs to be reformed. My letter requests that the Governor undertake an independent oversight investigation of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, the Adult Parole Authority and the Cincinnati Police Department to establish the facts about the failures of these state and local public safety agencies.
Note: I originnaly wrote to Attorney General Yost. His office recommended I send my letter to Governor DeWine noting that the Governor has broader authorities over the administrative offices of the state government. So., that is what I did.