State ex rel. More Bratenahl v. Bratenahl

Citations

• 2017 Ohio 8484

Syllabus

Sunshine Law Open Meetings Act secret ballot meeting minutes executive session motion for summary judgment. Judgment affirmed. The trial court properly granted summary judgment in favor of the municipality and properly denied relator's motion for summary judgment when (1) the \secret ballots\ were maintained by the municipality as a public record and subsequently produced to relator. The ballots were handwritten and included the name of the nominated individual as well as the name of each councilmember issuing the vote. Thus, the public was not denied the knowledge of the municipality's decision making process (2) the meeting minutes in question provided an accurate and adequate record of the Finance Committee's proceedings, recommendations, and council's actions on the same. The minutes at issue reference the ordinance and resolution numbers being considered for recommendation to council, identification of each motion, some discussion and the votes of the committee members. Additionally, Relator acknowledged that the meetings were audio recorded and fully revealed the discussions and information at each meeting and (3) review of the audio recording of the council meeting in question evidences that the motion and roll call vote to hold executive session were clearly taken. The motion and roll call vote took place before the court reporter began transcribing the record. The roll call vote is also reflected in the Clerk's notes, which was provided during discovery.