(a) Application. This Chapter shall apply to the following public bodies:
(1) The City Council;
(2) The Planning & Zoning Commission;
(3) The Board of Zoning Appeals;
(4) The Civil Service Commission;
(5) The Charter Review Commission; and
(6) Any other board, commission, committee, or similar decision-making body of the City, whether created by Charter, by ordinance, or by the Rules of Council, including any subcommittee of any such board, commission, committee, or similar decision-making body.
(b) Definitions.
(1) "Chair" means the President or Chairperson of the public body and includes the Vice President or Vice Chairperson, when acting for the Chair, or the Chair Pro Tem.
(2) "Deliberation" means the act of weighing and examining reasons for or against a choice.
(3) "Discussing public business" means the exchange or words, comments, or ideas by members of the public body on public business.
(4) "Executive session" is a conference between members of a public body from which the public is excluded.
(5) "Meeting" means any prearranged discussion of the public business of the public body by a majority of its members.
(6) "Public body" includes all those entities listed in division (a) of this section.
(7) "Quasi-Judicial" means acting in a quasi-judicial capacity to fulfill a public body's adjudicative duties, such as hearing appeals.
(c) Construction. This Chapter and any rules or regulations promulgated hereunder shall be liberally construed to require all public bodies of the City to take official action and to conduct all deliberations upon official business only in open meetings unless the public body is acting in a quasi-judicial manner or if the subject matter under consideration is specifically exempted by City Charter or state law.
Statutory Reference: ORC 121.22(A), (B)
(Ord. 2021-23. Adopted 12/29/21)