African American Chamber of Commerce executives say they had nothing to do with a fraudulent letter that alleged wrongdoing by a Cincinnati councilwoman to the state agency charged with investigating public officials.

        Kathye Lewis, chamber chair, said Thursday that the letter was illegal and improper and she hopes the culprit will soon be caught.

Ms. Reece

        “It was a stupid thing to do,” she said. “I would never do anything like this, and I know nobody here on staff would do it either.”

        Cincinnati police are investigating who sent the letter — from alleged “friends” of Councilman Phil Heimlich — that complains Ms. Reece received personal contracts from a city-funded agency.

        Mr. Heimlich calls the letter a lie, and Ms. Reece says she thinks it was sent as part of a smear campaign to influence her vote on city issues.

        Three days before the bogus letter was sent to the state, Ms. Reece received a letter from the chamber raising the issue of her involvement with the Cincinnati Urban League, the same agency with which she is accused of having a conflict of interest.

        The chamber was seeking to persuade Ms. Reece to support a $100,000 funding request from the City Council.

        Ms. Reece said she has never had a contract with the Urban League. Her father has one that is funded through the league by a private company, not the city. Ms. Reece has no idea who sent the bogus letter but said the timing of both letters is too much of coincidence to be ignored.

        Ms. Lewis agreed the timing could raise eyebrows but pointed out the chamber was “up front“ about its criticisms and concerns in the letter to Ms. Reece.

        She said that there was no suggestion that Ms. Reece had done anything wrong and that the Urban League was used only as an example of what the chamber could accomplish with additional money.

        “It is very disappointing to have a council member insinuate that an organization like the chamber would stoop to such tactics,” Ms. Lewis said in a prepared statement. “We have always been open with any council member about our concerns when we have them.”

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