John Curry: Letter to Dispatch columnist re: secret ballot vote
From John Curry, June 14, 2009
Subject: your recent piece in the Dispatch re. Board of Education vote by secret ballot
Catherine,
Your news coverage of the recent Ohio Board of Education's recent election states that Deborah Cain was elected by a "secret ballot" over Robin C. Hovis of Millersburg." Please check into this practice of secret balloting as, in my understanding, secret balloting by public boards is against the Ohio Revised Code as stated in a previous Attorney General's letter to Governor Strickland on April 2, 2007 (please see attached link plus a quote from that link). We retirees of the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio have also undergone the secret ballot fiasco at STRS board meetings in recent years and, after a letter to former AG Marc Dann, this practice has been stopped at Ohio STRS. Your concern in this issue will serve all Ohioans in the interest of transparency and sunshine.
Thank you,
John Curry
an Ohio STRS benefits recipient
a member of Concerned Ohio Retired Educators (CORE)
State education board picks leader in close vote
Columbus Dispatch Dispatch, June 9, 2009
The Ohio Board of Education elected a retired 31-year teacher as its president yesterday.
Deborah Cain, 57, of Uniontown in Stark County was selected in the board's monthly meeting in Columbus to replace Jennifer Sheets of Pomeroy, who resigned after 14 years.
Cain won 10-8 by secret ballot over Robin C. Hovis of Millersburg. There was one abstention.
Cain and Hovis are among 11 elected members of the board. Eight others, including Sheets, are appointed by the governor.
The board also elected appointee Ann Womer Benjamin, 55, of Aurora as vice president. She won over Stephen M. Millett, an appointed board member from Columbus.
Gov. Ted Strickland praised the selections, saying in a release: "Ohio is fortunate that two very capable individuals have been placed in positions of leadership at the Department of Education."
He will name Sheets' replacement on the board.
-- Catherine Candisky ccandisky@dispatch.com
Furthermore, in a letter to the Ohio State University Board of Trustees dated February 28, 2007, this office has stated that, "Secret ballots are to be strictly avoided, as the secret ballot on actions by public bodies frustrates both the letter and intent of the Open Meetings law because it masks the openness of the decision making process." (Former AG Marc Dann - see the link to this letter from Dann to Strickland; link below)
http://www.ag.state.oh.us/press/07/04/pr070406_Strickland.pdf
http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/06/09/copy/caped.html?adsec=politics&sid=101
Subject: your recent piece in the Dispatch re. Board of Education vote by secret ballot
Catherine,
Your news coverage of the recent Ohio Board of Education's recent election states that Deborah Cain was elected by a "secret ballot" over Robin C. Hovis of Millersburg." Please check into this practice of secret balloting as, in my understanding, secret balloting by public boards is against the Ohio Revised Code as stated in a previous Attorney General's letter to Governor Strickland on April 2, 2007 (please see attached link plus a quote from that link). We retirees of the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio have also undergone the secret ballot fiasco at STRS board meetings in recent years and, after a letter to former AG Marc Dann, this practice has been stopped at Ohio STRS. Your concern in this issue will serve all Ohioans in the interest of transparency and sunshine.
Thank you,
John Curry
an Ohio STRS benefits recipient
a member of Concerned Ohio Retired Educators (CORE)
State education board picks leader in close vote
Columbus Dispatch Dispatch, June 9, 2009
The Ohio Board of Education elected a retired 31-year teacher as its president yesterday.
Deborah Cain, 57, of Uniontown in Stark County was selected in the board's monthly meeting in Columbus to replace Jennifer Sheets of Pomeroy, who resigned after 14 years.
Cain won 10-8 by secret ballot over Robin C. Hovis of Millersburg. There was one abstention.
Cain and Hovis are among 11 elected members of the board. Eight others, including Sheets, are appointed by the governor.
The board also elected appointee Ann Womer Benjamin, 55, of Aurora as vice president. She won over Stephen M. Millett, an appointed board member from Columbus.
Gov. Ted Strickland praised the selections, saying in a release: "Ohio is fortunate that two very capable individuals have been placed in positions of leadership at the Department of Education."
He will name Sheets' replacement on the board.
-- Catherine Candisky ccandisky@dispatch.com
Furthermore, in a letter to the Ohio State University Board of Trustees dated February 28, 2007, this office has stated that, "Secret ballots are to be strictly avoided, as the secret ballot on actions by public bodies frustrates both the letter and intent of the Open Meetings law because it masks the openness of the decision making process." (Former AG Marc Dann - see the link to this letter from Dann to Strickland; link below)
http://www.ag.state.oh.us/press/07/04/pr070406_Strickland.pdf
http://www.dispatchpolitics.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/06/09/copy/caped.html?adsec=politics&sid=101
posted by Kathie Bracy at 1:18 PM
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