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OPEN-MEETINGS LAWs 2 Putnam Co. officials: Don’t dismiss us
By Marc Kovac
COLUMBUS
Two Democratic members of the Putnam County Board of Elections hoped to persuade a hearing officer in Columbus on Friday to recommend against their dismissal for violating the state’s open-meeting laws.
Ann Dillinger of Ottawa and Martin Kuhlman of Leipsic said they didn’t receive proper training, the infractions were technical and not intended to deceive the public, and the board has cleaned up its act in recent years.
“There was no maliciousness, ill will or malintent to hide or necessarily deceive anyone, let alone the public, for these types of violations,” said Putnam County Prosecutor Gary Lammers, who defended the board members.
In June, a county judge found the Putnam County panel broke sunshine laws multiple times from 2008-10 and ordered more than $40,000 in damages and attorney fees.
According to court documents, members conducted meetings without proper notice, met in executive session improperly and acted on matters not included in public notices.
According to the judge’s ruling, the violations “were egregious, repeated and deprived the public of information that they were required to provide.”
The two Republican board members at the time are no longer serving, and Husted issued notice late last month that he intended to remove the two Democratic members involved.
“Your failure to follow Ohio law leaves me no choice but to remove you as members of the Putnam County Board of Elections for misfeasance and nonfeasance in office,” he wrote.
Dillinger and Kuhlman appeared before a hearing officer Friday, where legal counsel representing Husted argued for their dismissal.
“There is really very little that should be at issue here,” said attorney Richard Coglianese. “The secretary of state believes in the importance of open meetings and public notices ... of making sure that boards of elections do things in an open and transparent way.”
But Dillinger and Kuhlman countered the violations were technical in nature and that numerous improvements have been made in recent years to ensure open-meeting and public-record laws are followed.
“These are technical errors that lawsuits look for,” Dillinger said. “Are they so bad that I should be dismissed? I firmly believe in the sunshine laws and had no knowledge, because I had no detailed training, that I violated them at all.”
They also said the board has cut costs, increased training and improved office morale since the days covered in the suit.
“Every election since November 2008 has been reconciled to the ballot, and our audit and recounts have been exact,” Dillinger said.
Kuhlman said to Husted: “You, as secretary, must carefully examine and consider the board’s list of accomplishments during and following that same time period, and then weigh the fact that no further violations have occurred. ... Voter confidence in the county election process was reinstated, office morale soared, previous poll workers were once again interested in working on Election Day. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer dollars were being saved.”
The hearing officer will make a recommendation in the matter later this month, and the secretary of state will make a final decision afterward.
Husted exercised comparable authority in 2012 when he removed two Democratic members of a Dayton-area elections board after they refused to comply with his early- voting directives.