A. Open Meetings. All deliberations, discussions and actions on official public business taken by the Council or other boards, commissions, and committees of the City, whether created by Charter or by the Council in accordance with this Charter, shall be taken in meetings open to the public, except as otherwise provided in this Charter or by the general laws of the State.
B. Notice. Council shall provide, by ordinance, Rules of Public Notice by which the Council and all other boards, commissions, and committees of the City shall give notice of their meetings.
C. Executive Session. The Council, boards, commissions, and committees of the City, whether created by Charter or by the Council in accordance with this Charter, may adjourn into executive session during any regular or special meeting of that body to discuss any of limited matters outlined in Ohio Revised Code Section 121.22(G), and any subsequent revisions thereto, or any other relevant provisions of the general laws of the State; provided, however, that:
(1) The Council, Boards, Commissions, and Committees of the City may also adjourn into executive session during any regular or special meeting to receive and discuss general legal advice from the Law Director or other special counsel.
(2) The Council, Boards, Commissions, and Committees of the City may adjourn into executive session during any regular or special meeting to consider and discuss economic development projects when that proposed project includes a request for economic development assistance from the City or the state, or involves public infrastructure improvements or the extension of municipal utilities, without a separate finding by the public body that an executive session is necessary to protect the interest of the applicant.
(3) Any public body of the City exercising the quasi-judicial duties assigned to it by this Charter, by ordinance, or by the general laws of the State may adjourn into executive session to deliberate when so acting within its quasi-judicial capacity.
D. Presence Required. A member of the Council or other Board, Commission or Committee of the City must be present in person, or by telephone, video or electronic means in the limited situations permitted by the Rules of Council, at a meeting open to the public to be considered present, to vote on any official business, or for the purpose of determining whether a quorum of the public body is present at the meeting.
E. Minutes. The Council, Boards, Commissions, and Committees of the City shall keep full and accurate minutes of their meetings, and such minutes shall include enough facts and information to permit the public to understand and appreciate the rationale behind the public body’s decision but need not be a verbatim transcript. Such minutes need only reflect the general subject matter of discussions in executive session, but shall record the motion, the reasons given for the executive session, and the vote to adjourn into executive session. The minutes of the City’s public bodies shall be promptly prepared, filed and maintained and shall be open to public inspection.
F. Effect of Violation. Any ordinance, resolution, motion or formal action of any kind by the Council or any Board, Commission or Committee is invalid unless adopted in an open meeting that complied with the Rules of Public Notice. An ordinance, resolution, motion or formal action adopted in an open meeting that results from deliberations in a meeting not open to the public is invalid unless the deliberations were part of a quasi-judicial hearing, or were for a purpose specifically authorized under Section 13.03 C. of this Article, and the executive session was held in compliance with that section.