Liz Keating grew up sitting at her grandparents' kitchen table listening to her Cincinnati-famous grandfather tell stories about his honorable career law, politics and journalism.

She loved both fields, but saw her career someday going a different route.

Nearly a year ago, however, Liz Keating had a change of heart and started thinking that she'd like to do a job the late Bill Keating once did – serve on Cincinnati City Council. 

Liz Keating didn't realize it'd happen this soon, but the 37-year-old Hyde Park Republican now finds herself as the newest member of council. She recently was appointed to fill another open seat after a rash of corruption-related arrests have reshaped the city's governing body over the past 10 months.

"I can sit around and complain about everything going on," Keating told The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast. "Or I can go be part of that change. And I decided ... I can't sit around and wait any longer."

In a wide-ranging podcast interview, Keating talked about her evolution from wanting to do a behind-the-scenes job in government and politics to being a politician. 

And she told stories about her late grandfather and the impact he had on her life – from his legacy as a top competitive swimmer to his time in politics in the 1960s and 1970s as a congressman, councilman and local judge to a career as Enquirer publisher and Gannett newspaper executive in the 1980s and early 1990s. 

Keating's full podcast interview can be heard for free by clicking the link at the top of the article. That's So Cincinnati is also available for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart Radio and other major listening platforms. Keating's interview begins at the 13:40 mark in the episode.

I was a political science major. I always wanted to go work behind the scenes (in politics and government). I am a policy nerd. It's a way you can impact change in the community. I am more of a quiet, shy person, so being out in the spotlight is not always my strength. I'm going to have to learn that now being a politician. My dream was always to go out in the business world, get real-world experience and then later on move behind the scenes. 

I've been watching, and there really haven't been a lot of candidates who have inspired me and my values match theirs to want to go work for. In the past year, as things have changed and opportunities have come up, I've started to look at myself in a different light and think, 'You know, maybe I should try to be that person to go put myself out there and run for office and try to make a change.' 

Keating says budget issues and basic services such as public safety and garbage collection will be her priorities. Her brother is a Cincinnati police officer, so Keating is familiar with the largest department in the city. 

Lets get back to the basics of what council is meant to do and serving the people. Stop getting distracted with all these silly fights, because it's not moving the needle on anything that actually has meaning to everybody else in the city. 

Keating went to UCLA, where she was co-captain of the swim team. It was never in question where she was going to live after college – Cincinnati. Some 25 of Bill Keating's 28 grand children live in Greater Cincinnati. 

When I left for college, I had to promise my dad that I'd move back home. So I fulfilled that promise. That's a very Cincinnati thing. The moment I stepped outside that 275 loop, I was all Cincinnati, all the way.  Every person I ever met out in California knew that I was from Cincinnati and Cincinnati is the greatest city on earth. And still to this day, I have college teammates and friends, they don't call me Liz. They call me "Cincinnati."

Keating lived with her grandparents after moving home from Los Angeles. Her grandfather, who retired from his newspaper career in 1992, still read a half-dozen print newspaper each morning. 

Every morning, we'd sit there and read them and discuss. ... What was most important to him was the lead story and how that impacted the community and what was gong on in the minds of people around him. 

He always talked about how critical it was to have (journalists) follow politicians and have them follow the stories, especially the local news stories. What you guys do was so important to him. That really keeps a pulse on what's happening in the community.

It also holds the politicians and the leaders accountable. He always thought that was so important.