Czar Zanotti, in his grand benevolence, caves on transparency, with a flourish

This is how dictators act.

“Honestly, I don’t think it did” make a difference, he said of the ACLU’s threat of a lawsuit if officials did not open all meetings to the public. “They may have jumped the gun a bit.”

The PD’s Henry Gomez, who has been all over this since the laughable WCPN appearance which started it, notes yet another perfection of irony.

But feedback from the transition group’s public engagement committee, which has been meeting in private, ultimately convinced leaders to open the meetings, Zanotti said.

Who is Martin Zanotti, unelected by anyone, to decide how, when, even whether or not a governmental meeting subject to Ohio Sunshine Laws should be made public??? This transition process is a sad joke on the voters of this county. ?It should be brought to a halt. ?If it isn’t, whatever results from it should be dismissed by the incoming county executive in its entirety.

The process from which this transition’s recommendations will emerge is inherently illegitimate. ?That makes the resulting recommendations illegitimate, to their core. ?As a member of the new council, I will oppose their implementation on the grounds of transparency.

UPDATE: ?Gomez notes my opposition. ?For more on my thoughts regarding this laughable transition process, here’s my take on Ken Lanci’s demand to be included, the ACLU’s position, and the high comedy of Zanotti’s and McCafferty’s?WCPN appearance. ?This new government, and the voters it will represent, should not be compromised by an unelected, non-transparent body meeting behind closed doors.