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Former Falls School Board member wins Sunshine Law case

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July 27, 2010


A former Cuyahoga Falls School Board member has emerged victorious in her open meetings law case against the Board.
Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands on Tuesday ruled in favor of Kellie Patterson, who alleged that the Board had repeatedly violated Ohio’s Sunshine (open meetings) Law, conducting public business in private.
“I’m pleased and I hope this will ensure that the things that happened in [the past] don’t happen again,” said Patterson.
“I’m disappointed with the findings,” said Board President Therese Dunphy.
Patterson served on the School Board from 2006 to 2009; she lost in her re-election bid in November 2009. Patterson filed her initial complaint against the Board in May 2008 and Magistrate John H. Shoemaker sided with Patterson in a decision issued in April.
Since then, both sides had filed objections. 
Judge Rowlands ordered the Board to pay Patterson a civil forfeiture of $500 and added that Patterson “is entitled to recover all court costs and reasonable attorney fees in this litigation.”
Judge Rowlands also ordered the Board to follow the tenets of the Sunshine Law, including keeping entrances open to the public during the entire meeting, taking all official action in meetings open to the public unless there has been a vote to adjourn into executive session, to only discuss issues in executive session that were stated in the open meeting and to not vote on matters in executive session.
For more, see the Aug. 1 edition of the Cuyahoga Falls News-Press.




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 2 Total Comments
2.
    Posted by Mary Neely July 29, 2010
Congrats Kellie! Jenna(Jon)? No comment? Or are you too busy getting your foot out of your mouth?

1.
    Posted by RickMotz July 27, 2010
Congratulations to Ms. Patterson. She stuck to her guns when most CF/SL residents were against her. Whether you agree with her or not, this was a victory for us. More and more, elected officials believe they can do as they please without following the rules. In this case it was a slam dunk. Hopefully CF/SL voters will realize that a board that does its business behund closed doors cannot be tolerated.

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