State Sen. Michael SkindellFile photo
LAKEWOOD, Ohio – The Ohio 8th District Court of Appeals has dismissed an appeal filed by State Sen. Michael Skindell that claimed Lakewood officials violated Ohio’s Open Meeting Act when they considered an ordinance that closed Lakewood Hospital last year.
The Feb. 2 appeals court decision leaves in place a lower court’s decision dismissing the lawsuit filed against city officials in Skindell v. Mary Louise Madigan, et al. At the time, Madigan was the City Council president. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Stuart A. Friedman in December 2015 ruled against Skindell’s claims of the city holding improper closed-door meetings and cleared the way for Lakewood City Council to close Lakewood Hospital in 2016.
Skindell has argued to keep Lakewood Hospital open and said he is disappointed by the appeals court dismissal. He and his attorney are considering a further appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court, Skindell said.
Skindell’s complaint claimed the city violated Ohio’s open meeting law by holding private discussions and negotiations leading up to an agreement with the Cleveland Clinic to close the hospital in early 2016. Council’s vote to close the hospital occurred in December 2015 during a public meeting and numerous public discussions occurred prior to the vote in addition to private, closed-door meetings between members of council and other city officials and attorneys.
In his ruling, Friedman said the court found no evidence the executive, or closed-door, sessions were unlawful.
“Negotiations must be conducted in private,” Friedman said at the time.
He allowed the city to move ahead with closing the hospital. Currently, a Cleveland Clinic emergency room operates at the site of the former hospital but inpatient services have ended, and both a parking garage and a professional office building near the former hospital have been demolished.
Skindell asked the appeals court to overturn Friedman’s ruling. However, the court in dismissing the appeal stated any potential violation of Ohio’s open meetings law was “cured by the adoption of the amendment by the electorate.”
After council voted to close the hospital, a public referendum on the issue appeared on the Nov. 8, 2016 ballot. About 51.5 percent of the ballots cast supported council’s decision to close Lakewood Hospital and open a Cleveland Clinic family health center in its place.
That vote invalidated the argument that a decision to close the hospital was made without adequate public input and knowledge, according to the appeals court decision.
“We were pleased with that, obviously,” city Law Director Kevin Butler said. “We felt strongly all along that there were no open meeting act violations.”
Butler also said it was too late to reverse the closure of the hospital.
However, Skindell and his attorney Matthew Markling released a statement saying they were evaluating their options including a possible appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court.
“Open and transparent government is the cornerstone of any democracy and especially local governance,” according to the statement. “Ohio State Sen. Michael J. Skindell is disappointed that the appellate court decided not to address whether Lakewood City Council’s 12 closed-door meetings in 2015, which resulted in the adoption of the ordinance closing Lakewood Hospital, violated Ohio’s Sunshine Laws.
“Rather than addressing whether Lakewood City Council acted appropriately, the appellate court held that the November 2016 referendum vote made any violations of the Ohio Sunshine Laws by Lakewood City Council irrelevant. The appellate court’s ruling may amount to a judicially created loophole, which could encourage public entities to violate the Ohio Sunshine Laws. To that end, Sen. Skindell is evaluating the best course of action to ensure that the provisions of the Ohio Sunshine Laws are followed including, but not limited to, pursuing an appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court.”
The Ohio 8th District Court of Appeals decision dismissing the lawsuit appears at the bottom of this story.
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