WCPO: Despite bribery charges, city will pay $152K in salaries and benefits
UC political scientist David Niven comments on city councilmembers suspension with pay
Cincinnati City Council member Jeff Pastor and PG SittenfeldI will continue to get paid, although suspended while awaiting trial for corruption charges.
State law allows them to collect full salaries until their cases are resolved in court or their council terms expire on Jan. 3, 2022.
“It is a lot of money,” says David Niven, an associate professor in UC’s Department of Political Science; and paying suspended members, he says, is a financial burden on Cincinnati when they are "two extra council members who literally can’t do anything.”
Niven teaches American politics and conducts research on campaigns, political communication and death penalty policy.
Featured image at top of Cincinnati skyline: Unsplash.
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