City of Dayton Commission fails to properly comply with ADA requirements on ordinance

There is a reason no one knew what the Amendment to Section 39 of the Charter was- and couldn’t find it. The only copy online, passed as an emergency ordinance, was filed online as a scan of a document– not readable by the blind, or Google.

This is a blatant attempt to hide the legal language from the people. The four charter amendments should be struck down, and put back on the ballot with proper notification.

Here is the text that they didn’t want you to see until you went in the ballot box:

Sec. 39. Meetings of the Commission

For the purpose of allowing newly-elected and qualified Commissioners to assume the duties of their office, the Commission shall meet on the first Monday in January following a regular municipal election, or the next day if the first Monday in January following a regular municipal election is a legal holiday. The commission shall meet at a place and time announced during the last Commission meeting of the previous year. Thereafter the Commissioners shall meet at such times as may be prescribed by ordinance or resolution, except that they shall not meet less than once each week. Should a scheduled meeting of the Commission lack a quirum the meeting may be cancelled by a majority of the Commission providing written notification to the Clerk of their unavailability.

The Mayor, any two members of the Commission, or the City Manager may call special meeting of the Commission upon at least 24 hours written notice to each member of the Commission, served personally on each member or left at his usual place of residence. All meetings of the Commission shall be open to the public in accordance with the Ohio Sunshine Law presently codified in Ohio R. C.§121.22. The Commission shall determine its own rules and order of business and shall keep a journal of its proceedings.

To be clear, missing language about the notification process for extra meetings is now, vague.

“Special Meetings” to be called by either the Mayor or the City Manager- or two Commissioners, without a stated reason in a regularly scheduled public meeting- without a protocol to notify the general public- or the news media- as was previously the case, sets a dangerous precedent for government behind our backs- much the same way this ordinance was slipped onto the ballot and passed.

There should be no need for “Special Meetings” without serious emergency- flood, tornado, terrorism, war.

The Dayton City Commission is a board of directors- not a governing body. This change is a dangerous step away from an open and free Democracy.

Placing this document online- without complying with ADA requirements- and thus hiding it from Search- is also a step in the wrong direction.

Please join me in the fight to get this overturned.

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