Ever wonder what governmental entities talk about behind closed doors during executive sessions? We do all the time.
We ask this because we were approached by residents at a recent Marysville City Council meeting who thought a public official’s actions were not proper. An executive session was scheduled and included a presentation from a developer about a prospective tax incentive.
We decided to write about this after documents were not presented for public view. We asked for the developer’s presentation since the public is allowed to see such documents included for perusal by council. However, the developer was called immediately and instructed not to bring their handouts to the council meeting. The developer was also coached to keep anything they wanted to share on a thumb drive.
Was this done to shield taxpayers from seeing it? We certainty don’t think it was done to have an open conversation about the requested abatement.
We think these actions prove there is a lack of ability to take the temperature of the community or at the least shows us there are blinders on when looking at the big picture. Keep in mind, just recently the abatement talk reached a boiling point when the Marysville Schools and Jerome Township decided to pull out of the Union County Economic Development Incentive Policy (EDIP), a local plan coordinated by joint city/county economic development director Eric Phillips.
Legally, the Ohio Revised Code does allow governments to call for an executive session if done properly. It provides that an executive session is a portion of an open meeting and the public can be excluded from the executive session.
In the effort of being transparent, we feel that the word “can” is really important here in light of the heightened awareness. It doesn’t say that the government must close a meeting at all. Rather, public bodies are encouraged to talk openly to taxpayers about sensitive topics.
Open government is, we think, the best way to move forward, especially with all the growth being proposed for this area. This way taxpayers can speak up if they don’t like how their tax dollars are being spent, or given away in this case.
Phillips was recently hired back after retiring and his consistent use of executive sessions to keep the pubic in the dark has not changed. It has been going on far too long and should not be tolerated any longer.
In our mind, these actions are not in the best interest of the taxpayer and are what the residents objected to at the council meeting.
They also show us that the role of the local newspaper is more important now than ever. Can you imagine what might get through as legislation if the Journal-Tribune is not there to ask questions? Kind of scary, isn’t it?