The City Manager's Blog

Depends.  I would not think an exchange between the City Manager and a Council member over email seeking clarification as a violation. 

Read Doug Adkins own words below, and determine for yourself if this not admission of a direct violation of our Sunshine Law and an affront to our democracy which depends on open honest government.

Middletown City Manager Douglas Adkins
www.cityofmiddletown.org

City Council Deliberations
February 17, 2017City Manager Middletown Leave a comment

I’m sometimes asked why Council seems to rubber stamp whatever I put in front of them.
It may seem as though there is no consideration given when the actual vote is taken, but let me explain how we get to Tuesday night’s vote at each Council meeting.
When I interviewed with City Council to take this position, I laid out for them a five year plan which I’ve talked about extensively in this blog.  I proposed a style of government, and changes in policies and strategies to return us to sustainable revenues by 2020.  The plan covered almost every aspect of City government.  City Council liked the style of the plan and its concepts and I got the job.
As I’ve moved through my first two years, everything I’ve put in front of City Council has been consistent with the five year plan I outlined when I took the job.  So… as long as I’m putting things in front of them that are consistent with what I told them I was going to do and what they told me that wanted me to do, that immediately takes care of one level of scrutiny.   What Council votes on looks like Doug’s duck, smells like Doug’s duck, so it’s probably Doug’s duck.
Next, City Council each year passes an annual budget a couple hundred pages long that lists by fund and by line item what I am proposing to spend in the next year.  That budget is passed each November for the next year.  When I bring an item to City Council, we let them know if this is part of the budget and the projects in the budget that they have already passed.  If it is, then again, there is reduced scrutiny needed because they have already approved the spending and the matter before them is the actual contract for the project and for spending that they have already approved in the annual budget.
Third, we have bidding requirements set by state law and local ordinance.  If the matter before council requires bidding, we include information showing that we followed the appropriate bidding process and why we selected the vendor chosen.  If project was in the budget and the money is appropriated for that project, and we followed the bidding procedures, then less scrutiny is needed.  The matter is consistent with the five year plan, in the budget, and properly bid.
Finally, we have items or opportunities or problems that come up unexpectedly during the year.  The burden is on city staff to provide City Council with enough information ahead of time to make educated decisions on unexpected events.   Grants are notorious for having a small window to apply for  and then spend the funds provided.
For example, we recently were awarded a grant from BWC for two power cots to assist in lifting patients into ambulances.  The funds were released quickly and the window to order the cots and spend the money was less than the 60 days normally required for two readings and 30 days to take effect.  So that one was an Emergency.
For each item to be taken before City Council requiring legislation, I have the relevant department head prepare a staff report that explains why the legislation is needed, where the funding will come from, which project this relates to, etc.   Those staff reports are due about two weeks before the actual council meeting date.
I review and approve the staff reports two Thursdays before the actual meeting.  For the February 21 meeting, I approved the staff reports on February 9th.  After approving the staff reports, I send City Council information letting them know the tentative subjects of the upcoming meeting and the general nature of what will be coming before them.
If there is something unusual, I try to provide more thorough information earlier so that they can think about the issue and ask preliminary questions.  When one council member asks a question, I answer the question and send the information to all Council members for review.
On the Wednesday before the City Council meeting, or in this case,  February 15th for the February 21 meeting, I have a senior staff meeting and we review the entire agenda and staff reports and finalize the next week’s meeting.
At that point, the final agenda and the workbook for the meeting is sent to each Council member with all  staff reports and documents needed to be ready to vote on Tuesday for the meeting.  This is the agenda and workbook that are posted on the City web page for public review.
City Council then has from about Thursday afternoon the prior week to the council meeting at 5:30pm on Tuesday night to review the detailed information provided and ask any final questions before the meeting.
My policy has always been that City Council can ask anything about anything on the agenda up until Tuesday night.   On Tuesday night, I want them to come to Council with all of their questions answered and with a full understanding of what I want them to vote on.  The only question Tuesday night should generally be whether or not to pass the legislation presented.  They should fully understand what we are proposing and why we believe it is in the best interest of the city to pass the requested legislation.
If there is a serious problem with what I have proposed, generally it would have been raised by City Council two weeks ago when I first told them what was coming on the agenda.  At that point, we can either answers questions and provide information sufficient to resolve their concerns, or we can pull the items from the agenda before we finalize the meeting because City Council is not ready to move forward with whatever the issue is in its current form.
So theoretically, Tuesday is a pretty mundane experience.  All questions previously and completely answered.  All information previously provided.   City Council makes a fully understood and educated decision on each piece of legislation.
Don’t be upset that your council doesn’t ask a lot of questions on Tuesday night.  You should be confident that a mundane Tuesday night means that your City Council has done  their homework and had all of their questions answered, documentation provided, and that they are making informed decisions on each item presented.
Most of the time, that’s exactly how it goes….

Also:

I encourage MUSA participants to do an internet search of many other U.S. municipalities that hold pre-city council agenda meetings and/or workshops regarding same.  You will find communities that even televise these pre-city council meetings that are open to the public.  You will also find meeting minutes of said pre-city council meetings posted on their respective websites.  Information is power and the citizenry deserves open, honest, accountable and competent governance.  The truth shall set the captives free.

Everything City Manager described is within the legal requirements of the sunshine law.
Making up issues where none exists seems to be the primary purpose of this website and most of it's contributors.
With so many real issues to discuss perhaps it is time for an alternative to middletownusa.

I would encourage any and all parties who believe there is a violation of sunshine/open meeting act to file a formal grievance. 

Listed again below, in Doug’s own words, are instances where Doug and council, as a group, appear to be discussing and deliberating public business before council meetings. This is a violation of the Open Meetings Act according to the highlighted excerpt posted by swohio75 from, I believe, ORC 886...

Under this analysis, those courts have determined that gatherings strictly of an investigative and information-seeking nature that do not involve actual discussion or deliberation of public business are not “meetings” for purposes of the Open Meetings Act

To be absolutely clear, in other words, this states that discussion or deliberation of public business by public officials (council) IS considered a meeting. And therefore it appears that Doug and council are in violation. Middletown’s citizens have the right to see, hear and be involved in discussions and deliberations of all public city business. Our council meetings seem to be carefully planned, orchestrated, and finalized for the council rubber stamp.
Quotes from Doug:

“When one council member asks a question, I answer the question and send the information to all Council members for review.”

“At that point, the final agenda and the workbook for the meeting is sent to each Council member with all  staff reports and documents needed to be ready to vote on Tuesday for the meeting.”

“City Council then has from about Thursday afternoon the prior week to the council meeting at 5:30pm on Tuesday night to review the detailed information provided and ask any final questions before the meeting.”

“My policy has always been that City Council can ask anything about anything on the agenda up until Tuesday night.   On Tuesday night, I want them to come to Council with all of their questions answered and with a full understanding of what I want them to vote on.  The only question Tuesday night should generally be whether or not to pass the legislation presented.  They should fully understand what we are proposing and why we believe it is in the best interest of the city to pass the requested legislation.”

“If there is a serious problem with what I have proposed, generally it would have been raised by City Council two weeks ago when I first told them what was coming on the agenda.  At that point, we can either answers questions and provide information sufficient to resolve their concerns, or we can pull the items from the agenda before we finalize the meeting because City Council is not ready to move forward with whatever the issue is in its current form.”

“So theoretically, Tuesday is a pretty mundane experience.  All questions previously and completely answered.  All information previously provided.   City Council makes a fully understood and educated decision on each piece of legislation.”

“Don’t be upset that your council doesn’t ask a lot of questions on Tuesday night.  You should be confident that a mundane Tuesday night means that your City Council has done  their homework and had all of their questions answered, documentation provided, and that they are making informed decisions on each item presented.
Most of the time, that’s exactly how it goes….”

swohio75:

"Under this analysis, those courts have determined that gatherings strictly of an investigative and information-seeking nature that do not involve actual discussion or deliberation of public business are not “meetings” for purposes of the Open Meetings Act"

But these are NOT "gatherings" ohio75. The communication is a phone call, an E-mail, text or a communication method OTHER THAN a "gathering" or open meeting between the city manager and the council members done in the private format out of the public's eye. A "gathering" would constitute an assembly of members in one common location. If one reads Adkin's post on his blog, one could conclude that there is discussion concerning city business that is conducted outside the council chambers that ultimately leads to a formation of a decision that is then brought to council meetings and a vote by the council member is rendered. Therefore, one might conclude that the discussion outside the chamber is where the decision was made and as such, would be in violation of the Sunshine Law. The city manager and council member(s) is not only seeking information as your line suggests, they are making the decision right then and there out of public view. It is a secretive way of operating using the system Adkins describes in his post.

This answers the discussion......

"Those courts that have distinguished between “discussions” or “deliberations” that must take place in public"

This is not happening according to Adkin's post.

Bottom line.....it really shouldn't have gotten this far. If Adkins and the council were straight shooters, they would want to discuss city business in view of the public to eliminate this type of distrust. Adkins is always repeating that he has nothing to hide and is forthcoming in his information. If that is so, why do we have this situation. Right or wrong, this makes the city manager look like a back room, secretive dealer to the people when he/council discuss city business out of the public's view. The secrecy is re-enforced when we see council ask no questions at meeting time as it appears the decisions have already been made prior to the meeting. The people deserve better than that.

Yes, a full business day has passed since this was posted.  Old news.  Sad!

Now let’s see...how many more feathers can we pluck from Doug Adkins’ self described ducks?

And dear media, if you have enough pluck to do some investigative reporting, this blog is a good resource! Let’s stop aiding and abetting the city’s misguidance.

Oh, and dear past and present council members, who do you think will ultimately be held responsible for the dire consequences Middletown has suffered? Not Judy Gilleland! Not Doug Adkins! You hired him(them). You are the governing body. And you can bet they will say that they were only carrying out your orders. I would not want to be under that cloud of pressure and responsibility!!!

Back to plucking feathers. Here’s a continuation of the list of Doug’s suggested legislation which council has rubber stamped for him.

(4).   Many of our non-profit programs that were benefiting our city have disappeared as a result of funding being confiscated. Because non-profit funds must pass through a government agency, Adkins seems to think any or all of that money is subject to his and Councils discretion. At Adkins direction, city council further curtailed the funds which came from the cable company monopoly expressly for the public access channel, TV Middletown. The city was already retaining the majority of this fund but council and Adkins said “out of the goodness of our hearts we will pass on some of it” to TV Middletown. What happened to the remaining funds?? As a result, for lack of sufficient funds, TV Middletown could no longer function, was dismantled and the public lost an important access to city council meetings. Public oversight of council meetings became more difficult or impossible for the majority of citizens who can not attend in person. All the better for Adkins to keep the public in the dark! Is the cable company still sending funds for the defunct TV Middletown? Probably not. Did PAWS move to Monroe for similar reason? Did we lose the non-profit funds for historic Middletown Cemetery this way?

(5). Citizens passed a safety levy that assured the citizens of no lay-offs in safety personnel. So why are our streets now patrolled by State Highway Patrol? Was money siphoned from this fund or is the highest paid police department in the state unable to do the job of protecting the citizens? Are the special police/inspectors who may be looking for abandoned properties to raze, paid from the safety funds more important than law and order police? Being one of the highest crime areas in the state is another reason for the steady decline of Middletown. For years there have been complaints that the police department is not answering their phone when called to report non-emergency crimes/problems. (Are they screening their calls with caller ID?) This does not lower the reported crime rate, it just means they don’t take crime reports.

(6). It appears that Weatherwax Golf Course was illegally sold to an investor who turned around and sold it to Metro Parks at a profit. It took our legal department, perhaps months, to transfer the deed because there were restrictions not allowing the sale to a private owner. How did this suddenly become legal and who in the Butler Co. office expedited it? Where did the money from this “deal” go? The land (which included Sebald Park) was gifted to Middletown and the deed originally said that it would all remain in public hands and remain green space. Since Council failed to make a profit did they ever think to get a professional golf course management company to run Weatherwax? Selling Sebald Park, giving away Bicentennial Commons and destroying our swimming pools are also all mistakes from which Middletown can never recover. Now we pay ever higher taxes for lower performing schools and no amenities. Know any prospective business or resident who finds this attractive?

"When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government." Thomas Jefferson