Hamilton County Commissioner Tom Neyer wants the Ohio Ethics Commission to tell him if he can cast a controversial vote.

        Mr. Neyer has come under fire recently for his role in helping an arts advocacy group called the Regional Cultural Alliance ask for $600,000 from the county commission he sits on. The money would be used to market the arts.

Neyer

        Mr. Neyer's involvement led an anti-tax group to allege a conflict of interest with the ethics commission.

        But the ethics commission also issues advisory recommendations, and that's what Mr. Neyer asked for in a letter Friday. He says no vote will be taken on RCA funding until he gets a response.

        “Since the issue has been raised, and I already have the prosecutor's opinion, I thought the Ohio Ethics Commission should be the final arbitrator,” Mr. Neyer said. “Let's just be done with it.”

        Mr. Neyer — a board member of the ballet and the Contemporary Arts Center — served as chairman for the RCA “Transition Team,” which was created to find money for the group. Under Mr. Neyer's leadership, the RCA decided to ask each county in the Tristate for money.

        No other counties have committed.

        Hamilton County commissioners in June voted to allow county staff to negotiate a grant contract with the RCA. That prompted members of the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST) to file its complaint with the ethics commission. COAST also has threatened to seek an injunction in a county court to keep Mr. Neyer from voting on the matter.

        Chris Finney, a member of COAST, said his group will now wait and see what the ethics commission has to say before asking for the injunction.

        But the group won't just be waiting in the wings.

        Mr. Finney said he plans to ask the ethics commission's advisory branch to ensure all the details about Mr. Neyer's involvement with the RCA's transition team are included.

        In July, Mr. Neyer asked the prosecutor's office for an opinion on whether he has a conflict of interest. But Mr. Neyer failed to mention in his letter to prosecutors that he was chairman of the transition team.

        Mr. Neyer said that information was included in his letter to the ethics commission.

        COAST had asked the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office to file a lawsuit to keep Mr. Neyer from voting on RCA funding. The prosecutor's office declined to file the suit Friday, which opens the door for COAST members to bring their own legal action.

        Carl Stich, a chief assistant prosecuting attorney, wrote in a letter to COAST on Friday that commissioners have agreed to hold off voting on the issue until the ethics commission responds.

        Mr. Finney thinks Mr. Neyer is trying to rush through a vote before Jan. 2 — the date Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus is replaced by Todd Portune.

        Mr. Portune has said he does not favor any new spending, and the third commissioner on the board, John Dowlin, is likely to vote against the grant.

        Mr. Dowlin said he's not convinced the grant would be a good deal for taxpayers.

        “If they could demonstrate there will be a return on the investment, I'd support it,” Mr. Dowlin said. “I'm still waiting for that.”

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