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Mill Creek board's selection violated Ohio Sunshine Laws, attorney says
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mill Creek MetroParks board of commissioners failed to follow state law in its selection of a new executive director, the attorney representing The Vindicator and its news partner, 21 WFMJ-TV, said Tuesday.
Though the board unanimously voted at a public meeting Monday night to hire Aaron Young to replace Dennis Miller, the actual decision to choose Young was not made in public and therefore is not in accordance with Ohio Sunshine Laws, Atty. David Marburger said.
“The law requires a public body like the park district to make 100 percent of its decisions for the first time in public at a pre-arranged meeting,” Marburger said. “They’re not allowed to decide it before and then have a ceremonial vote. That’s just theater.”
Section 121.22 of the Ohio Revised Code says, “A resolution, rule or formal action of any kind is invalid unless adopted in an open meeting of the public body. A resolution, rule, or formal action adopted in an open meeting that results from deliberations in a meeting not open to the public is invalid,” unless the deliberations fit the criteria for an exception.
“We’re not saying their discussion was not allowed to be private,” Marburger said. “What was not allowed to be private was making the decision. And they made the decision in private.”
In an interview Tuesday, board president Lou Schiavoni disputed the claim the decision was made before Monday’s meeting.
“The meeting of the minds came about on Monday. ... There was never a decision made until our public meeting Monday,” he said.
About 45 minutes before Monday’s public meeting began, however, park spokeswoman Samantha Villella sent out a press release announcing the selection of Young for the position.
“After a thorough interview process of more than 27 candidates, then narrowing to three qualified candidates, the Board of Park Commissioners has selected Aaron Young to succeed Dennis Miller as Executive Director of Mill Creek MetroParks,” the release said.
The release quotes Miller as saying, “I want to congratulate the board on making an excellent decision for the position of executive director.”
Schiavoni, however, denied telling the park administration Young had been selected.
“I told them that he was the front-runner, but I did not say that a decision had been made yet,” he said.
“Vote to hire Aaron Young as Executive Director” also was included as an item on the meeting agenda, which was released before the meeting began.
In an interview with media outlets after Monday’s meeting, Schiavoni responded to a question about the legality of the selection process, saying, “We actually went into executive session for almost five hours on Saturday. We still came out not really knowing. We kind of got our collective minds together, talked some on Sunday, and just decided Aaron’s the man.”
Commissioners met in an executive-session meeting Saturday morning to conduct a final round of interviews of three candidates.
A decision made over the phone, via email or in executive session constitutes a violation of Ohio Sunshine Laws, Marburger said.
“It can’t be done by consensus, or straw vote, or anything like that,” Marburger said. “The actual articulation or expression of approval of a particular candidate, in the sense that it would amount to a decision of a public body, has to be made for the first time in the open.”
Schiavoni acknowledged that he and commissioner John Ragan spoke on the phone Sunday, but said they only discussed general contract issues that did not pertain to a specific candidate.
“I’m still sticking with the decision was not made prior” to Monday’s meeting, he said.
The board did not engage in any discussion before the motion to vote to hire Young was made.
After that vote, some members of the public present at Monday’s meeting raised concerns with the way the board conducted the selection process, saying the board did not allow for public input or provide adequate information about the final candidates to the public.
Until the decision to hire an executive director is made in accordance with the state’s Open Meetings Law, Marburger said the decision to hire Young is not legal.
“They have to make that commitment in open session, and until they all do that, the decision to hire is not valid,” Marburger said.