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Sunshine Law too often unread
(by Dave Lange - October 19, 2011)
COUNTY LINE, BY DAVE LANGE
Sunshine Law too often unread
Every so often, the Fourth Estate, otherwise known as the press, must remind those in the three estates within the government that it's watching and that they are not immune from the laws of the land.
The Ohio Sunshine Law, which requires public bodies to meet in public and requires public records to be open to the public, by golly, is a very basic set of rules that should be familiar to anyone who chooses to enter public service. But it isn't. And it's surprising to observe that many public officials are surprised by the revelation that they are supposed to be working for the public.
A case in point occurred Sept. 26, when Burton Village Council was in a bit of hurry to pass legislation that would enable a village police officer to spend 20 hours a week working in the Berkshire schools -- a worthwhile endeavor, to be sure.
The trouble was that, by law, legislation requires three readings at three separate public meetings prior to its passage. As observers of local government know, public bodies routinely dispense of the three-readings rule by passing legislation on an "emergency" basis with just one reading. That, however, requires a super-majority vote, as opposed to the simple majority.
Complicating the process of turning a hurry into an "emergency" for Burton Village Council was the fact that only four of its seven members were in attendance at the meeting, which was a simple majority but not a super-majority of five.
Being a resourceful, albeit not legally astute, legislative body, the council set up a speaker phone to dial up a long-distance vote from one of its absent members. Despite a protest from a citizen in the audience, village Solicitor Todd Hicks approved the contrivance, and legislation was approved.
Well, hold on there. While village officials apparently had not read section 121.22(C) of the Ohio Revised Code previously, they were able to see what it says in a front-page story by our reporter Joseph Koziol Jr. in that week's edition of our Geauga paper. The section reads, in part, "A member of a public body shall be present in person at a meeting open to the public to be considered present or to vote at the meeting ..." The Ohio Attorney General's Office was able to clarify for our story that the "law is still active."
Village officials didn't express any great appreciation for bailing them out of a situation in which the legislation might have been ruled null and void in the future, perhaps even jeopardizing a state grant for the school resource officer program. But they did reconvene with some minor embarrassment the next week to legally approve the legislation with the requisite super-majority vote.
I hasten to add that Burton Village Council is not the only public body to be less than fully informed of the laws elected officials are supposed to follow.
Chardon City Council President Philip King emerged from an executive session last March to announce that "council is in complete agreement that we have decided" on a retire-rehire plan for three city administrators. The Ohio Sunshine Law unequivocally forbids public bodies from making such decisions behind closed doors. Law Director James Gillette said later that Mr. King had misspoke.
Public officials should know better. They would if they'd at least read the law.
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