Public should have access to Budget Planning Council
Students, faculty and administrators: You need to know what is going on with the budget, and here’s why you have that right.
Unfortunately, Budget Planning Council continues to shroud its meetings in secrecy. Ohio University’s reasoning for the closed meetings is that the council is not a public body and does not have to comply with the Ohio Open Meetings Act.
However, under the act, any committee or council of a public institution is defined as a “public body” and therefore required to comply with the act. Because BPC is a council of OU, a public university, it cannot deny the public access to its meetings.
Although BPC makes only recommendations and not direct decisions, fee proposals recommended by its Student Fee Committee are referred to the OU Board of Trustees, which is a decision-making body of a public institution. Council members also make decisions regarding other budgetary recommendations to President Roderick McDavis.
In Wheeling Corporation v. Columbus & Ohio River Railroad Company, the 10th District Court of Appeals ruled that a selection committee established to evaluate proposals was a public body but made decisions on which proposals to recommend. Therefore, the committee was required to follow the Open Meetings Act.
In Thomas v. White, the 9th District Court of Appeals found a citizens’ advisory committee to be a subject to the Open Meetings Act. The court stated that a strict reading of R.C. 121.22(B) indicated that a committee need not be a decision-making body in order to be a public body.
Council members serve as representatives of the entire university, so its meetings involve a discussion of public business. As a prearranged discussion of public business by a public body, BPC’s meetings fall under the Open Meetings Act’s definition of a “meeting” that must be open.
As Ohio University’s Budget Planning Council is not listed as an exception to the Open Meetings Act, there is no excuse for it not to be open. The council can go into an executive session. But, unfortunately for BPC, budgetary matters cannot be discussed during an executive session.
Budget Planning Council can no longer prevent the public from attending its meetings. The council’s meetings are open meetings of a public body as defined by Ohio statutory and common law; therefore, it cannot continue to deliberate in private.
Ohio University must stop fighting to keep BPC closed as its argument against opening is flimsy at best. Everyone has a right to attend the council’s meetings.
Editorials represent the majority opinion of The Post’s executive editors.
