CINCINNATI — Cincinnati officials spent $11,500 on five signs that critics say are political and were originally proposed to come down the day after Election Day.

The signs credit President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris with future road projects that received funding from a bipartisan infrastructure law.

Originally, it should have credited only Biden. However, before the signs were installed, city officials decided to add Harris’ name after she became the Democratic presidential nominee.

“The idea that we’re going to put up some signs and tell people what’s going on, I think is perfectly reasonable,” said David Niven, a political science professor at the University of Cincinnati. “It’s hard to justify that there was a change specifically to include the vice president’s name. It’s hard to see that as particularly necessary.”

Niven reviewed city documents and emails obtained by WCPO through a public records request that revealed the backstory of the signs.

He found it “particularly egregious” that a city employee wrote an email to Prus Construction asking for prices for temporary project signs that should be installed by Oct. 1 and may have to be removed from as soon as November 6, that day. after the elections.

“This reads like a conversation that happened that no one ever expected to warrant … that no one ever expected to be scrutinized,” Niven said. “That’s an unfortunate part of this story.”

Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval, a Democrat, and City Manager Sheryl Long declined interviews through spokesmen.

J. Scott Applewhite/AP

The signs cost $2,300 each, originally drawn from the emergency street repair fund. This fund pays for various road maintenance and repairs included in the city’s contract with Prus, such as installing new pavement, painting and striping, street sanding and signage.

However, a city spokesman said the cost of the sign will be reimbursed to the street repair fund from a separate fund in the city manager’s office for grant administration activities. City officials anticipate receiving a grant to reimburse the cost of the signs.

“I don’t think I would rely on it if I were them,” said Todd Zinser, a West Price Hill resident who was inspector general for the U.S. Commerce Department and spent years rooting out fraud and waste in as deputy general inspector. in the US Department of Transportation.

Zinser said he doubts the city will be reimbursed through a grant because he doesn’t believe it followed federal guidelines on sign design.

Other communities nationwide have put up similar signs promoting federally funded transportation projects, but those signs only had Biden’s name on them, Zinser said.

“It just shows you how out of whack the situation is with Cincinnati,” Zinser said. “That it is not duplicated in other cities.”

Provided by the City of Cincinnati

Steve Goodin, chairman of Clifton Town Meeting, said he was shocked that town officials would spend money on these signs when so many neighborhood councils are asking for money for additional crosswalks or speed bumps to make them safer for pedestrians.

His community board was trying to find $20,000 to fix a bike lane with a serious pedestrian safety problem, Goodin said.

“To me, the big issue is that these are city dollars, No. 1. No. 2, our budgets are tight. No. 3, our neighborhoods are clamoring for pedestrian safety interventions — most of which are fairly inexpensive — and routinely being told there’s not enough money to fund them,” he said. “They could still find money for this nonsense.”

Goodin, a former Republican city council member, is now the interim chairman of the Cincinnati Charter Committee. He said the city charter requires the city manager to be nonpartisan, nonpolitical and independent.

“You see in these emails a clear political direction coming from a DC lobby to the mayor’s office and to the city manager’s staff. And that political considerations are clearly at the forefront of this spending of public funds,” Goodin said. “This is a charter issue, this is a culture issue, this is something that is not good for the city.”

A city spokesman said the city manager did not violate the city charter.

Provided by the City of Cincinnati

“These signs do not promote the Harris campaign or engage in prohibited political activity,” spokesman Ben Breuninger wrote in response to questions from WCPO. “The city works hard to secure federal funding for a variety of projects and is proud to celebrate successful grant applications, promote our partnership with the federal government, and inform residents and visitors about the administration’s efforts to seek available dollars. The party affiliation of the federal leadership is irrelevant to these activities.”

The city’s lobbyist suggested the original signs to the mayor, who agreed and passed the idea on to the administration, Breuninger wrote.

“This will be a new push from the administration — because they want the public to understand how the law actually delivers results — and the signage that helps make the connection is important. I’m not sure how the mayor feels about this — but I’ll note that it would get a lot of goodwill and brownie points with DOT and the administration (this push comes from the WH),” Leslie Pollner, a lobbyist with the D.C. firm Holland & Knight wrote in a January email to the mayor’s chief of staff, Keizayla Fambro, and others.

Ray Pfeffer

“We are being asked by the city manager to install some temporary signs for the project…We are waiting for the city to choose which of the four sign options they would like us to use,” Jennifer Russell, supervising engineer in the city’s transportation and engineering department wrote in a July 11 email to Prus.

She noted that the signs may have to be removed as soon as Nov. 6, but a city spokesman said the signs will remain up after that date.

“The time frame of October 1st – November 6th was originally stated by a DOTE employee who does not have the authority to make the decision, and the city’s intention is to leave the signs up beyond that time frame,” Breuninger wrote to WCPO.

Once Biden dropped out of the presidential race on July 21, city officials soon after agreed to change the sign’s design to add Harris’ name.

An employee in the city manager’s office was the first person to suggest using both names on the signs, and the mayor’s office agreed to the idea, Breuninger said.

“It is a key role of the mayor’s office to support the administration in managing our relationship with federal partners. When we learned of the push around the nation for signage, we were eager to get it done here quickly,” according to Pureval’s statement. “Cincinnati has received transformational support from federal partners like USDOT, and in order to maximize our relationship going forward, it’s important to provide adequate recognition and information to residents.”

Ray Pfeffer

But that’s not how Goodin sees it.

“The signs themselves are political, and then secondly, the rewriting of the signs is highly political,” Goodin said.

Goodin, a Republican, said he would have the same objections if the signs promoted leaders from his party.

“These signs are not the end of the world. It’s not the start of a huge corruption scandal, but it’s about a cultural problem that will lead to bigger and bigger problems if it’s not addressed,” Goodin said.

But Zinser wants the five signs removed.

“If they want to put up new signs that are consistent or in line with federal guidelines, they have to, but as they are now, I think they’re clearly political signs,” Zinser said.

Ray Pfeffer

As for Niven, while the handling of the situation showed carelessness and clumsiness, he said “it’s not corrupt, it’s not wrong.”

“This seems like an unforced error and one that distracts from the basic premise of the sign in the first place, which is that this was a rare moment when people on both sides came together and did something,” said Niven.

The signs are at five project locations:

• Gilbert Avenue and Eden Park Drive, where construction begins in 2026 on a complete street project to focus on calming traffic and increasing safety.
• Court and Linn streets, where construction is slated to begin in 2027 for a complete street project to connect the West End, Queensgate and Lower Price Hill with better intersections, new bike lanes and safer pedestrian crossings.
• Harrison Avenue and Queen City Boulevard, where construction begins in 2025 on a project to reduce speed and car crashes.
• Harrison and Westwood Avenues, where site preparation is underway for the Western Hills Viaduct replacement project. Construction of the new bridge is expected to begin by 2026.
• Reading Road and Asmann Avenue, where construction begins in 2027 for a sidewalk improvement project.