Apr 29, 2021
More than a year after the pandemic changed how everything in our lives operates including government it continues to concern us that some local governments fail to adequately host meetings accessible to the public.
Two recent examples come to mind.
First was a meeting of St. Clairsville City Council from earlier this month. The council there has been hosting meetings via conference call, with no public participation other than to listen in. Not only was the public shut out from having a voice in those meetings, but council members voted, on at least one occasions we’re aware of, secretly by email on a personnel issue. That’s unacceptable and violates open meetings laws.
Apr 29, 2021
The
Monday, May 3, 2021 at
7:30 P.M. via TELECONFERENCE. Residents are encouraged to listen.
A
UTILITIES COMMITTEE meeting will take place prior to the Council meeting at
6:30 P.M. This will be conducted in a TELECONFERENCE format.Residents will be in a LISTEN ONLY MODE and may use the same dial-in number and access code provided for the Council meeting listed below.
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak and the changes that have been made to Ohio’s Open Meetings Act (which temporarily allows public bodies to conduct meetings and hearings electronically during this state of emergency), the public may participate using the phone number and access code below.
Don't Shut Public Out of Meetings | News, Sports, Jobs theintelligencer.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theintelligencer.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Times Leader Staff Writer
ST. CLAIRSVILLE St. Clairsville City Council members took no action Monday to correct a vote cast by email that appeared to violate the Ohio Open Meetings Act, but the emails were read aloud and each member verbally confirmed their vote was recorded correctly.
The vote by email occurred April 5 to fill two seats on the recreation board. Council chose not to rescind the vote and said plans are in the works to revive in-person meetings, which would hopefully prevent such incidents in the future.
According to the “2021 Ohio Sunshine Laws Manual” published by Attorney General Dave Yosts’s office: “A public body must make all of its meetings open to the public at all times. Secret ballots, whispering of public business, and ’round-robin’ discussions are all prohibited under the openness requirement.”
St. C. vote by email appears improper | News, Sports, Jobs timesleaderonline.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from timesleaderonline.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.