Cincinnati City Council meeting: May 14, 2025

Find the agenda and other materials for this meeting here. 

On May 14, 2025, Cincinnati’s City Council struck a celebratory tone for a meeting focused on commendation and public investment, in sharp contrast to the more dire tone of public commenters.

Public commenters discussed the recent police shooting of 18-year-old Ryan Hinton, concerns about the possibility of ICE arresting legal immigrants under the Trump administration, personal experiences of homelessness, and the ongoing Isreal-Hamas  war, accusing Mayor Aftab Pureval and City Council of complicity because of their professed support for Israel. Several of the speakers received applause from the small crowd of public attendees.

City Council opened the main session with a resolution to honor and congratulate Lisa Mertz, president and CEO of the Addiction Services Council and peer mentor at the Hamilton County Justice Center, for her “outstanding service” to the city and recent graduation as valedictorian from the Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University.

City Council authorized a financial incentive package for the redevelopment of Carew Tower from underutilized commercial space to 375 market-rate residential units. The developer, 441 Vine Street Owner LLC, an affiliate of Victrix Investments LLC, received a 30-year property tax exemption for the redevelopment of the existing building at West Fifth Street in the Central Business District.

Council Member Mark Jeffreys said that without the financial incentive from the city, the redevelopment would not be possible. “The choice is really no development or this,” he said.

Council Members Jeff Cramerding and Meeka Owens reflected his excitement about the redevelopment of Cincinnati’s “iconic building.”

“This is a step in the right direction of us continuing to prioritize housing,” Owens said.

“Cincinnati is second in the country for taking underutilized offices and turning it into housing,” Pureval said, noting his pride that Cincinnati’s current City Council has saved a handful of other iconic buildings, including PNC Bank Tower, which will also be converted into housing.

Hamilton County’s 911 system will receive an update, as the City Council approved the final plan for the countywide implementation and operation of a new system. Council Member Scotty Johnson noted that the present system has been in place since 1988.

City Council also passed several emergency ordinances to fund public services and public recreation projects as well as to support local businesses, which included establishing the Walnut Hills Recreation RCF as a new capital investment project program. The Reds Community Fund donated $150,000 to fund the installation of a turf infield at Owls Nest and other improvements at Ashland Recreation Area. The council also extended an existing tax exemption agreement to Rhinegeist Properties equal to the value of property improvements at their location in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.

The meeting concluded with notes on summer activities in Cincinnati and an emphasis on public safety.

“I want to thank the mayor, our colleagues, this city administration, for doing everything we possibly can and turning over every rock to make sure Cincinnati is safe for everybody,” Johnson said. 

He said that parents and guardians have a responsibility to do the same, encouraging a “game plan” for safety, boundaries and curfews. “I know the commitment coming out of City Hall, and I’m challenging the parents of our youth of this city to tighten it up and make sure you are doing everything you can and you are turning over every rock in your household,” Johnson said.

“American leadership for too long has made our police officers out to be enemies instead of public servants,” Owens said, in echo of Vice President J.D. Vance’s comments earlier that morning. She later added, “I want to be clear that here in City Hall we know the value of first responders and law enforcement.”

City Manager Sheryl Long said that the Summer in Cincy webpage would be a “one-stop shop for summer initiatives and activities.”

All Cincinnati City Council members were present:

• Jan Michele Lemon-Kearney, Cincinnati vice mayor
• Victoria Parks, president pro tem 
• Anna Albi
• Jeff Cramerding
• Mark Jeffreys
• Evan Nolan
• Meeka Owens
• Scotty Johnson
• Seth Walsh

If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@signalcincinnati.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.

Find more Documenters’ notes on Cincinnati City Council here.