Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken was so frustrated with Downtown Cincinnati Inc. lobbying the city for money that he drafted a motion last month to have the nonprofit group disbanded.

        Mr. Luken never introduced the motion, which may have been illegal. DCI has a contract with the special downtown taxing district of which the city is a member.

        But the episode provided a brief glimpse into what the mayor said was long-standing “behind-the-scenes” friction between him and the downtown-services organization.

        “We didn't get DCI to be a high-priced lobbying firm to tell the city what to do. We've got guys over there with six-figure salaries,” Mr. Luken said after abandoning his motion.

        DCI president Rick Greiwe has a compensation package worth $171,461 — until recently, more than Cincinnati's city manager, Mr. Luken said.

        “I've been arguing with DCI for a long time about what their role should be, and I've asked them to reevaluate their approach,” he said. “They should be doing more direct services. They should be picking up litter and adding safety. Lobbying is the last thing DCI ought to be spending their time doing.”

        Downtown Cincinnati does marketing, development and other services for the downtown special-improvement district, which assesses downtown property owners to pay for them. The district raises $1.7 million a year through the assessments, supplemented by $900,000 that DCI raises through sponsorships, cleaning contracts and other private funds.

        About $300,000 of the DCI's revenue comes from city contracts. DCI uses that money to clean Fountain Square, hire red-coat “downtown ambassadors” to help visitors, survey parking rates each month, and recruit and retain downtown business.

        Its mission also includes “advocacy” on issues important to downtown property owners, Mr. Greiwe said. It was DCI's lobbying for a $5 million small-business development fund that led Mr. Luken to threaten to disband the group.

        DCI vice president Lajuana Miller — apparently unaware that city council had already approved the concept of a $5 million small-business development fund — tried to start an e-mail campaign supporting the fund last month. That led to a sharp exchange of e-mails between the mayor and Ms. Miller, and DCI called off the e-mail campaign two hours after it started.

        “We could have handled the request differently,” Mr. Greiwe said.

        Last month, council approved a $6.6 million subsidy to Saks Fifth Avenue. Councilman Pat DeWine, a Republican who serves on the special improvement district's board of directors, voted against the Saks deal.

        “I think DCI has done some good things, but I'm sick and tired of DCI taking tax money and using it to lobby for certain projects,” Mr. DeWine said.

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