The Student Senate President is determined to open Ohio University's Budget Planning Council meetings - but to do so he'll have to overcome almost unanimous opposition from other council members.
Robert Leary has expressed concern that the council - a body made up of faculty, students and administrators that makes fiscal recommendations to Ohio University President Roderick McDavis - should be open to the public. Currently, the group meets behind closed doors, posting most - but not all - of its minutes online.
Leary and Graduate Student Senate President Tracy Kelly say transparency in the budget process is important, but the remaining 14 members of the council do not agree, and the meetings remain closed.
It's something students want
especially in tough economic times Leary said.
Last spring both Leary, who currently sits on the council, and Molly Shea, his challenger for the Senate presidency, said they wanted the meetings open to the press and public.
Leary, who ultimately won the election in a landslide, called for more openness from the council but has acknowledged that opening the meetings will be a challenge.
Most members of the council are opposed to opening the meetings. Ten would vote against it, four are neutral and both student representatives, Leary and Kelly, support opening the meetings.
The council will remain closed this year, Bill Decatur, senior vice president for Finance and Administration and co-chair of the council, said at a Student Senate meeting earlier this year.
We need to have absolutely free-flowing discussion in there Decatur said. He added that the full range of options is discussed in the meetings and that the council is not a decision-making body - it only formulates recommendations.
People could attend only one meeting and take information out of context from the overall picture
Valarie Young, chemical and biomolecular engineering chairwoman, said.
Where we are one week may not be where we are a month later
Young said. I'm not sure (open meetings) would be helpful.
Kelly argued that keeping the meetings closed sends the wrong message.
These discussions are being made shrouded in mystery
Kelly said, The council isn't doing anything that should be hidden.
In recent years, the legality of the council's closed meetings has been called into question. Last September The Post threatened to sue OU for access to BPC meetings after a reporter was asked to leave. Ultimately, The Post chose not to sue, but maintains the meetings should be open, citing Ohio Sunshine Laws.
OU's argument hinges on the definition of a public body. In June, Randy Ludlow of The Columbus Dispatch haggled with OU officials via e-mail about the openness of the meetings. Ludlow posted the e-mails to his blog, arguing with John Biancamano, OU's general counsel, over whether the meetings were subject to laws restricting public bodies.
Attorney Kevin Shook, who works for the Cincinnati-based Frost Brown Todd, said a public body can legally hold closed meetings, or executive sessions, provided it voted to do so in a public meeting and does not vote in the closed meetings. Shook said he has never heard of such a council at a public university and that closed meetings are usually reserved for personnel issues and legal action.
OU officials see the law differently, arguing that the council is not subject to the same constraints, saying it is not a public body.
I think it's clear when reading open meeting laws that the BPC is not a public body
Biancamano said. From the legal angle
they are not required to open the meetings.
Although the administration currently maintains a strong stance against opening the budget planning meetings, similar meetings were open to press and the public in the 1970s.
From 1971 to 1976, OU's budget planning meetings were open to the public, which resulted in disaster, according to OU records.
A 1988 case study conducted by then-provost James Bruning concluded although intended to document financial and managerial integrity and to retain confidence in the budgeting process
the open budget meetings had an almost opposite effect.
The meetings quickly became platforms for cynicism
resentment and hostility
as audience members used the occasion as a platform to attack administrators and broad social issues that had little relevance to the internal budgeting of Ohio University. The report noted that most of the outspoken audience members had little understanding of sound fiscal management of a large university like OU.
Leary said BPC meetings should not remain closed only because of the fear of repeating the meetings in the 1970s, but he acknowledged it is a delicate issue.
In 1977, open budget meetings were scrapped in favor of the University Planning and Advisory Committee.
The committee made recommendations for all aspects of university planning, comprised 22 members and was chaired by the provost, according to OU records.
It was a predecessor group to the current council, Becky Watts, chief of staff to President McDavis, said.
Kelly said she understands the logistical concerns of holding the meetings in a place where students can attend. She said it was more likely that the meetings could be open to the press, a smaller number of people familiar with the council.
I would like to see us discuss (openness) this year
