TransparencyOversight & ethics enforcement

Five Cincinnati council members, including Greg Landsman, admitted in a 2019 settlement to violating Ohio's Open Meetings Act; the city paid $101,000, mostly attorney fees, and in 2020 a special prosecutor declined to prosecute a recommended misdemeanor charge

Confidence: Corroborated · 4 sourcesCity of Cincinnati · Oct 12, 2026

Subject of this story

P.G. Sittenfeld, Member, Cincinnati City Council (2019)

Chris Seelbach, Member, Cincinnati City Council (2019)

Wendell Young, Member, Cincinnati City Council (2019)

Greg Landsman, U.S. Representative, Ohio's 1st District

Also named

Oversight

Ohio Auditor of State

What happened

In a settlement made public Mar. 4, 2019, five Cincinnati City Council members, including then-Councilmember Greg Landsman (now a U.S. Representative), admitted violating Ohio's Open Meetings Act by conducting city business in private text messages and emails, according to WCPO and Fox19. Judge Robert Ruehlman approved the settlement in March 2019 and told the five they should step down. The city, not the members, paid $101,000: $90,000 for the plaintiff's attorney fees, $10,000 for a different member's deleted texts and $1,000 for the open-meetings violation. Fox19's timeline reports that Landsman preserved his text messages and turned them over to prosecutors; that in December 2019 the Ohio Auditor recommended a misdemeanor dereliction-of-duty charge against the five; and that in Sept. 2020 a special prosecutor declined to prosecute on that charge while the investigation continued. In an Oct. 2024 debate Landsman called his involvement a mistake and said "I should not have done that," as quoted by Fox News.

Sources (4)

WCPOThe five Democrats, including Greg Landsman, admit violating Ohio's Open Meeting Act by conducting public business in private text messages and emails; the settlement calls for the city to pay $1,000, $10,000 for Young's deleted texts and $90,000 in attorney fees.

Fox19City taxpayers will pay $101,000 to settle a lawsuit over secret texts; the five council members, including Greg Landsman, admit breaking the law, according to the proposed settlement.

Fox19Judge Ruehlman approves the settlement and tells the five they should step down; Landsman, Sittenfeld and Seelbach preserved their messages; in Sept. 2020 the special prosecutor declined to prosecute the auditor-recommended dereliction-of-duty charge.

Fox NewsLandsman, asked about the 'Gang of Five' matter at the debate: 'That was a mistake. I should not have done that.'

Response

P.G. Sittenfeld

Not yet contacted

Not yet contacted for this story.

Chris Seelbach

Not yet contacted

Not yet contacted for this story.

Wendell Young

Not yet contacted

Not yet contacted for this story.

Greg Landsman

Statement given

Contacted and responded — exact wording not on record.

What happened next (0)

No outcome recorded yet.

I saw an update

Take action →