School board hell bent on violating sunshine laws again- just to show they can at will
Expecting anything remotely resembling rational behavior from the Board of Education that hired two sociopathic superintendents in a row would be like suddenly believing in Santa Claus on your death bed.
The board just had to pay their old attorney, Brian Wildermuth of Subashi Wildermuth & Justice, to file a response in my appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court over their claims that their closed door meeting on a school bus constituted an “Information session” and was somehow exempt from the Ohio Open Meetings Act- also known as the “Sunshine Laws.” The fact that Wildermuth can’t write a word of truth in his response is immaterial, the fact that they somehow think this is worth fighting is beyond believing in Santa Claus. It would have been infinitely cheaper to just pay the fine and say they were sorry- but, no one on this board is that bright.
Their latest brilliant move is to hold a “retreat” outside of the district. How far outside? Dave and Busters in northern Cincinnati. This is illegal.
Note, the new Ohio Attorney General is incompetently posting the handbook now as a Microsoft Word Document- which can harbor viruses, isn’t universally readable, etc. instead of a PDF like predecessors. Here’s the link to the Yellow Book.
The Ohio Open Meetings Act
Chapter Eight: Duties of a Public Body, Section A, 1, Page 104 “A public body must conduct its meetings in a venue that is open to the public. Although the Open Meetings Act does not specifically address where a public body must hold meetings, (emphasis added) some authority suggests that a public body must hold meetings in a public meeting place that is within the geographical jurisdiction of the public body. Clearly, a meeting is not “open” when the public body has locked the doors to the meeting facility.”
In case the board didn’t know it- the board retreat scheduled this Saturday will constitute a violation. I have 2 years to file for an injunction after the fact.
Board RetreatSaturday, July 20, 2019Dayton Board of Education’s
Board Retreat
Tri County Commons (Dave & Buster’s)
11775 Commons Dr
Springdale, OH 45246
(4) A member of a public body who knowingly violates an injunction issued pursuant to division (I)(1) of this section may be removed from office by an action brought in the court of common pleas for that purpose by the prosecuting attorney or the attorney general.
Probably time for you to get a lawyer involved.
Anybody willing to take this on pro bono?