Trustees to publish all panel meetings
A meeting last week about a grant wasn't advertised.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
BOARDMAN -- Trustees plan to announce all committee meetings in an effort to both comply with Ohio's Open Meetings Act and to inform residents about the gatherings.
Last week, Trustee Kathy Miller organized a meeting of a committee that was to select a project to submit for a grant through Eastgate Regional Council of Governments.
The meeting included Miller, the committee's three members appointed by trustees, members of the township administration, Eastgate and the Mahoning County Engineer's office.
Miller said that Robyn Gallitto, trustee chairwoman, "stopped by" the meeting. Trustee Elaine Mancini didn't attend.
The meeting wasn't advertised to the public nor was a notice sent to The Vindicator.
Sunshine Law requirements
Under Ohio's Open Meetings Act, commonly called the Sunshine Law, a meeting is defined as "any prearranged discussion of the public business of the public body by a majority of its members."
The law requires meetings of governmental bodies, including committees or similar decision-making bodies of a township or other public entity, to be public with limited exceptions.
At a trustee meeting this week, Mancini questioned whether committee meetings such as the one last week should be advertised in conformance with the Sunshine Law.
She said that even workshops are considered meetings and subject to the open meetings requirements.
Mancini referred to a list of citizen committees that Miller wants to create ranging from zoning and future personnel needs to long-range planning, marketing and beautification, asking whether each of those gatherings must be advertised in advance.
William Leicht, township fiscal officer, said that as a matter of policy, those meetings should be advertised. That way, if two or more trustees show up, the township is covered, he said.
Making a distinction
Both Miller and Gallitto called last week's grant meeting an "information-gathering session." Miller said the committee was trying to learn about the grant process and the types of projects that were eligible.
Gallitto referred to a section of the 2005 Auditor of State's Open Government Resource Manual that says that some courts distinguish discussions that must be held in public from "information-gathering, investigation or fact-finding, which do not have to held in open session."
But Gallitto and Miller both said that the public should be informed about the meetings and able to attend, and Gallitto suggested they be put on the calendar at the receptionist's desk in the government center and on the township Web site.
"I believe everything we do should be open to the public," Miller said.