Accountability Hard to Find in Findlay
BY PATTY KLEINFINDLAY - A recent FOIA request has revealed that members of the Findlay city council have failed to utilize communication forms which were recently redesigned to track whether or not council members are responding to concerns of their constituents.
In March of 2024, Findlay City Council launched an Ad Hoc Committee to change the way the public addresses city council. While the committee sought limitations to oral comments, residents additionally proposed a new form with a section for city council members to note the action they took to help address the public comment of the residents. During the Ad Hoc Committee meetings, there was discussion that any resident comment could be addressed and noted by council ward representatives. For example, a resident speaking about suspicious persons, could result in the councilperson contacting Findlay Police Department for more information and passing that information on to the resident. This information would be noted on the communication form and signed by the councilperson. These forms would be helpful for tracking repetitive complaints resolutions and to document accountability of each councilmember.
Anyone who plans to speak before Findlay city council has been required to fill out the form prior to the start of the meeting and hand deliver it to the city council president in council chambers. The resident would then be given permission to speak during the public comment portion of the meeting with some limitations on how many members of the public can comment on the same issue.
These new forms were to be given to the resident’s council representative for follow up, with a section for the council members to complete to indicate what action was taken by the ward representative in how the concern would be addressed. A recent FOIA request has revealed that a majority of Findlay city council have completely ignored the concerns of their constituents.
A records request was made on September 19, 2024 for copies of each form since the implementation in May of 2024. There was no initial response to the request, which drew some concerns leading to a second request being made for the forms on October 19,2024. The records were finally received on October 23, 2024. Sixteen forms had been filled out with three of the forms being in an older format. The old forms may have been used because the city of Findlay has not yet updated their website with the new form. Of the 13 new style forms, none of them were completed by a council ward representative or council at large representative. Forms were collected from Josh Palmer ward 7, Dan DeArment 4, Jim Niemeyer ward 6, Brian Bauman Ward 5, Dennis Hellmann Ward 2 and Council at large representatives Randy Greeno and Jeff Wobser, all with blank ward sections. At this time, some may argue the forms are only being used as a method to screen public comments to dissuade public participation while elected officials are officially ignoring publics concerns, or at the very least not following through on their end of the agreement.