A lawsuit filed against the Athens County Commissioners was thrown out Wednesday when the plaintiff, who was acting as his own attorney, failed to produce any evidence or witnesses.
Carthage Township resident Steve McVey accused the commissioners of violating the state's open meetings law. He said the commissioners did not inform the press or the public of their Sept. 29 meeting in the basement of the sheriff's office with County Sheriff Vern Castle and County Auditor Jill Thompson in attendance.
In a letter from Thompson to County Prosecutor C. David Warren, she wrote, I am concerned that there may have been a violation of the Sunshine Law and completely support the rights of the press. She said they met to discuss the sheriff's employee turnover, a union contract and the budget for the upcoming year. There was concern the budget would fall short $91,000 for operating purposes in 2005.
Thompson said she learned about the gathering from an employee just prior to the meeting and was only expecting one commissioner to be in attendance. However, when she showed up to the event, all three commissioners were present.
She added, however, no decisions were made during the meeting.
McVey said he found out about this particular meeting when he read the letter from Thompson.
On Wednesday, a bench trial was held to hear arguments for the lawsuit. McVey found himself unprepared because he said he believed that he was participating in a merit hearing, which only rules on the validity of a case and schedules a date for trial.
A bench trial is one without a jury, where a judge decides the case.
According to County Prosecuting Attorney Steve Warren, McVey did not present a single piece of evidence at the trial.
Upon learning that the meeting was a trial instead of a hearing, McVey asked for a continuation but was denied. Warren then asked for, and was granted, a dismissal of the case, citing two reasons.
First, Warren said in his request for dismissal that no official action had occurred at the meeting in question; only discussion of current circumstances had taken place. In order to be in violation of the Sunshine Laws, some sort of action must be taken.
In addition, the Ohio Revised Code section 121.22 states that in order for a gathering to be labeled as a meeting, the event must be scheduled prior to the meeting in order to conduct official business. However, because the meeting was not pre-arranged, the event could not be classified as a meeting.
County Commissioner Lenny Eliason said he was relieved and happy to see
