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Government operates in secret
(by Dave Lange - June 06, 2012)
COUNTY LINE, BY DAVE LANGE
Government operates in secret
As a member of the public, as opposed to a member of the government, I can only imagine what goes on beyond those closed doors that separate us from them in executive sessions.
The Ohio Open Meetings Law, Section 121.22 of the Ohio Revised Code, makes it clear that the government is supposed to work for the citizens. It requires "public officials to take official action and to conduct all deliberations upon official business only in open meetings unless the subject matter is specifically excepted by law."
It is the "unless" that often leads to doors being closed by city and village councils, township trustees, school boards and other public bodies. There are seven such exceptions, three of which commonly apply -- personnel matters, the purchase or sale of property and pending or imminent litigation. The law states that such matters may be considered in executive sessions, but it does not state that "official action" or "deliberations" may occur there.
We, the public, tend to believe that "official action" does not take place behind those closed doors, because those public bodies routinely take their official votes in public meetings with the doors open. I, for one, however, suspect that "deliberations" commonly do occur in private meetings, because they do not occur in public meetings, and, curiously, those official votes so often are unanimous.
Two recent cases in point were the appointments to fill vacant seats on Pepper Pike City Council and the Solon Board of Education.
In Pepper Pike, 15 citizens applied for the seat vacated by longtime Councilwoman Paulette Morganstern. In Solon, 11 citizens applied for the seat vacated by longtime school board member Dorothy Seibert.
It's interesting how many citizens are interested in being appointed to local political office when so few are interested in running for election to those offices. But that's another story.
The story here is that all 26 of those applicants presented impressive credentials. They included eight attorneys, six business executives, five professional educators and a couple financial professionals. Those responsible for making the appointments agreed that there were numerous qualified candidates for the vacant seats.
After the interviews were conducted in private and discussions were held behind closed doors in accordance with the Open Meetings Law exception, some strange things happened. On May 17, the sitting members of the Solon School Board voted 4-0 to appoint John Heckman to the open seat. Not one of the other 10 candidates warranted a single vote. On May 23, the sitting members of Pepper Pike City Council voted 6-0 to appoint Robert Freed to the open seat. Not one of the other 14 applicants warranted a single vote.
No doubt, Mr. Heckman and Mr. Freed are well qualified for the positions and have shown a genuine interest in public service. But, no doubt, some of the other applicants are equally qualified and engaged.
The question is how and why did those elected officials become so unanimous. The official votes came in public, but the official decisions obviously did not. There were private considerations but no public deliberations. The public is not well served by government that operates behind closed doors.
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