Cincinnati Enquirer: Opinion: City Council needs to set a new standard

UC political scientist David Niven writes an opinion piece calling for transparency

Cincinnati city council members should live up to the same standards of bank tellers, whose actions are all done in public, UC’s political science expert David Niven writes in an opinion piece for The Cincinnati Enquirer.

For reference, on Nov. 19, P.G. Sittenfeld became the third member of the City Council charged with corruption when he was arrested and charged with taking $40,000 in bribes.

 “Everything a bank teller does is done in full view of others. There are colleagues. There are cameras. There are counts, Five thousand dollars cannot go from the cash drawer to the pocket without everyone knowing it,” Niven says, contrasting the actions of certain City Council members and their behind the scenes activities.

Niven, an associate professor of political science, teaches American politics and conducts research on campaigns, political communication and death penalty policy.

Read the entire Enquirer opinion piece.

Read a New York Times summary of the investigations, with Niven also cited as an expert.

Featured image at top of Cincinnati City Hall. Photo/Owsley/Enquirer  

Impact Lives Here

The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.

Related Stories

1

UC biologist talks about 'pearmageddon'

March 16, 2026

WLWT talks to UC biologist and Department Head Theresa Culley about invasive, nonnative Callery pear trees that are spreading across Ohio forests after they were introduced by landscapers more than 50 years ago.

3

Trial results support weekly buprenorphine treatment of opioid use disorder during pregnancy

March 16, 2026

Supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), researchers led by the University of Cincinnati's John Winhusen published clinical trial results in JAMA Internal Medicine that found administering weekly injectable extended-release buprenorphine for treatment of opioid use disorder during pregnancy led to higher rates of abstinence from illicit opioids than buprenorphine given daily under the tongue, one of the standard methods of treatment.