A Cincinnati City Councilman insists that the fact that Tamaya Dennard changed her vote on the streetcar budget just before coming to him for money are not connected. Greg Landsman pushed for the budget change which the Mayor objected to in June of 2019 and Dennard's vote made it veto proof. It was then in July that Landsman gave Dennard $500 the first of two loans he would make to the now indicted councilwoman.
Landsman tells our Scott Sloan that when she asked him for a loan that vote was not mentioned and says the help was not tied to any other city business. Landsman says the records of the text messages that he and Dennard exchanged will prove there was no "quid pro quo." .
Landsman says he was just trying to help someone who was going through a tough time, "People have said to me my biggest political weakness is that I do give people the benefit of the doubt, that's how I was raised." The council member saying on Newsradio 700WLW that he believes "until they prove you otherwise to give them some grace." He adds that "he is not the first person who has tried to do something good for someone and gotten burned."
Landsman now believes that given the allegations of extortion and bribery, Dennard needs to resign from Cincinnati City Council. On the Scott Sloan show this morning, the councilman said they now have a great deal of work to do to restore the public's trust.