Sunshine law violations must be punished | News, Sports, Jobs - Warren Tribune Chronicle
The Ohio Supreme Court is weighing a case about violations of the state’s open meetings law, including specifically whether repeat violations should be punished by single or multiple $500 fines.
From our vantage point, the answer is simple.
Multiple violations should warrant multiple punishments.
Consider this. When someone commits a crime five times and is caught five times, would it be reasonable to penalize that person only once? Of course not!
Each incident deserves punishment, and frankly, we suspect most prosecutors would seek stiffer penalties for repeat offenders.
The scenario being weighed by the Ohio Supreme Court should be viewed just as simply. The case involves a Portage County man who is seeking repeat remuneration for finding multiple instances of open meeting violations.
Brian Ames of Mogadore pinpointed several suspected cases of open meeting violations by Portage County commissioners and Rootstown Township. He believes he should be entitled to payment of $500 per open meetings law violation — and frankly, he’s uncovered quite a few of them.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost agrees with Ames’ argument, and at this point, we do, too. Yost states someone successfully proving that an illegal meeting happened “is entitled to one $500 award for every Open Meetings Act violation proved,” as is spelled out in Ohio law.
A lawyer for Rootstown disputes that argument, however, interpreting Ohio law as requiring only one $500 fine per injunction. It comes as no surprise that the attorney’s argument also is supported by local government groups. Allowing multiple $500 fines would inspire open meetings law “bounty hunters” to bring claims against public bodies on the backs of taxpayers, according to attorneys for the local government and also some public officials in Trumbull County.
We believe citizens who take it upon themselves to patrol meetings for sunshine law violations might help remind government officials of their responsibility to the taxpayers and of the requirement for complete transparency.
Trumbull County has gotten into the fray because after finding alleged sunshine law violations in Portage County, Ames turned his attention to local government action in Trumbull County.
Ames recently filed lawsuits in Trumbull County against the city of Hubbard and against Champion, Kinsman and Johnston townships, charging the governing bodies in each community with violating Ohio open meetings law.
The Trumbull County civil cases are making their way through the common pleas court docket.
Ames alleges seven violations by the Kinsman board of trustees.
Multiple allegations of open meeting violations, some dealing with executive sessions, are alleged against Johnson in 2021.
Similar claims linked to allegedly adjourning improperly into executive sessions in 2020 and 2021 were filed against Hubbard City Council.
The Champion lawsuit mentions 11 executive sessions in 2020 and 2021 in which the township trustees are accused of violating state law.
Through its legal counsel, Robert Yallech of Youngstown, Hubbard City Council denies Ames’ claims. Cherry Poteet, attorney for Johnston, also denied the claims and argued in court filings that Ames “lacks standing” to bring the complaint in Trumbull County.
Ames’ attorney, Matthew Miller Novak, said this: “Mr. Ames is dedicated to advocating for transparent government throughout northeast Ohio. The purpose of these lawsuits is to seek a court order prohibiting these governments from continuing to operate without complying with the requirements of the Open Meetings Act to ensure they are functioning transparently as possible.”
We understand these matters are still pending in court. If it is determined these sessions indeed were held improperly, however, then we believe each instance should be punished individually.
Undeniably, all government officials must be dedicated to maintaining complete transparency in public business. They must be well versed in the language of Ohio’s sunshine laws and then ensure that they live up not just to the letter of the law, but also to the spirit of the law.
When violations are found, they must be dealt with accordingly. Unfortunately, we realize that could mean taxpayers end up footing the bill for legal action and imposed fines.
When that happens, particularly repeatedly, perhaps taxpayers will take note and allow their displeasure to be reflected at the ballot box.
Further, we believe this issue should renew debate among legislators about adding sharper teeth to Ohio’s sunshine laws in order to hold more accountable those elected officials who violate those laws.
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source: https://www.tribtoday.com/opinion/editorials/2022/04/sunshine-law-violations-must-be-punished/
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