Cincinnati - Government

Government

The city is governed by a nine-member city council, whose members are elected at large. Prior to 1924, city council was elected through a system of wards. The ward system was subject to corruption and as with any one-party dominance, abuses arose. From the 1880s-1920s, the Republican Party dominated city politics, with the political machine of "Boss" Cox exerting control.

A reform movement arose in 1923, led by another Republican, Murray Seasongood. Seasongood founded the Charter Committee, which used ballot initiatives in 1924 to replace the ward system with the current at-large system. They also gained approval by voters for a city manager form of government. From 1924 to 1957, the council was selected by proportional representation. Beginning in 1957, all candidates ran in a single race and the top nine vote-getters were elected (the "9-X system"). The mayor was selected by the council. In 1977, thirty-three year old Jerry Springer, later a notable television talk show host, was chosen to serve one year as mayor.

Residents continued to work to improve their system. To have their votes count more, starting in 1987, the top vote-getter in the city council election was automatically selected as mayor. Starting in 1999, the mayor was elected separately in a general election for the first time. The city manager's role in government was reduced. These reforms were referred to as the "strong mayor" reforms, to make the city government accountable to voters. Cincinnati politics include the participation of the Charter Party, the party with the third-longest history of winning in local elections.

The current mayor of Cincinnati is Mark Mallory and the current City Manager is Milton Dohoney. The nine-member city council is composed of Vice-Mayor Roxanne Qualls and Councilmembers Cecil Thomas (President Pro-Tem), Chris Smitherman, Yvette Simpson, Chris Seelbach, P.G. Sittenfeld, Laure Quinlivan, Wendell Young, and Charlie Winburn.