ABCD FACT SHEETS
FACT
SHEET I: LOOKING FOR AN INVISIBLE
GOVERNMENT
FACT
SHEET II: OVERSIGHT, WHERE ART THOU? FAQ’s
FACT
SHEET III: F’s (FACTS) + O’s =
CONSENSUS FODDER
FACT SHEET I: LOOKING FOR AN INVISIBLE GOVERNMENT
What are ABCD’s? ABCD’s refer
to Authorities, Boards, Commissions and Special Districts of
What will the ABCD study do? The ABCD study will explore in what sense it is the Commissioners who provide these services and programs, how the ABCD’s fit into the organizational chart of county government, how many members are appointed, how they are paid, to whom they report, whether they keep open records, etc.
How many ABCD’s
are there? There are currently forty-five
boards for which the
Who else appoints members to the ABCD’s? Other appointing authorities might be city mayors, judges, civic groups or neighboring counties. Some members serve by virtue of the offices/positions they hold.
How or why are these boards
formed? All ABCD’s
have their basis in enabling state statutes of the Ohio Revised Code (ORC), and a few are
required by federal law. Many are authorized
by resolutions of the
Are all ABCD’s
under the jurisdiction of the
How are they funded and how do they function? Some boards propose tax levies, charge fees, issue bonds, apply for private or government grants, receive federal or state funds, or appear as line items on the county’s General Fund budget. Some boards cross county lines into neighboring counties. Most have paid staff, while others operate on a shoestring with volunteers. Some meet often and are highly visible while others have a low profile scarcely meet and have several vacant seats.
FACT SHEET II: OVERSIGHT, WHERE ART THOU? FAQ’s
Why venture into the maze of Authorities, Boards, Commissions and Districts? It is a logical extension of ongoing explorations of how county government works. Citizens who attended our “County Government 101” presentations were invariably surprised at the ABCD’s apparent lack of transparency and accountability. League Principles and many positions at all League levels authorize members to demand government transparency and accountability. This maze is exactly the kind of territory Leagues like to enter!
What have we found out (or
not) in the
What kinds of information are we seeking? We want to know, additionally: how the board members are compensated, how they write their bylaws, how they are funded (particularly their public funding), how they are staffed and budgeted, whether they must report to anyone, whether any authority exercises oversight, and what kind of auditing they undergo. We also want to test their accessibility to citizen inquiry.
How do Commissioners communicate with an ABCD if they get a citizen inquiry or complaint? Boards are accessible to Commissioners through informal phone contacts with a go-to source within each agency. Somebody at the county building always knows somebody on a board to call. Citizens can get an address or phone number from the Hompage links (see FACT SHEET I).
Is this informal or spotty accessibility ever a problem? If Commissioners suspect an irregularity, they have sometimes hired the Ohio Auditor’s office to do a performance audit. And, by way of heir appointive powers, they can always seek to change a board’s composition. However, they have no say about hiring and payroll but can request budgets and salary lists.
Do Commissioners exercise any other types of oversight to keep abreast of the many ABCD’s? Rarely. CEO pay and expense overages have been aired at Commissioners’ meetings on several recent occasions. Current issues at the Board of Election show they can also appoint a fact-finding committee or “project manager” to look into malfunctions, even if they have no appointive authority. But otherwise, they do not routinely interfere with ABCD business, and most agencies consider themselves autonomous. At one time Commissioners appointed a Deputy Administrator to keep atop ABCD’s , but no longer. The current Deputy has many other responsibilities.
FACT SHEET III: F’s (FACTS) + O’s = CONSENSUS FODDER
County Government Committee members have collectively interviewed one
F – IMPORTANCE: ABCD’s spend far heftier combined dollar amounts, including their own tax revenues, than does the county alone through its general fund budget.
F – FUNCTIONS: If the (ORC) does not authorize a specific kind of
ABCD, then statutory counties (eighty-seven of eighty-eight
F – AUTONOMY: ABCD’s are independent, quasi-governmental bodies. Commissioner influence over them and their spending is limited to the power to appoint or occasionally to appropriate/withhold discretionary county funding. Directors do NOT serve at the pleasure of their appointers, and state law, not Commissioners, spell out protocols of their operation.
F – OVERSIGHT: Commissioners have few tools to oversee the
operations of ABCD’s, because the ORC does not confer
any. Current county-sponsored election
monitors at the Board of Elections are only there because of an unwritten agreement with
the Board of Elections. Otherwise,
Commissioners can focus only a public spotlight or a bully pulpit on board activity. They have no authority to monitor funds from the
independent revenue sources (levies, fees, US and
O – APPOINTMENTS: There are ample candidates for the paid ABCD board positions (salaries set by the ORC), but a dearth of volunteers for the uncompensated positions. Not enough citizens appear to be interested. No one alledged links to politics, patronage or campaign contributions.
F – SUNSHINE: All ABCD’s must be authorized by ORC statute and so are subject to state open meetings and records laws. Others such as Section 501 c (3) or (6) bodies, which resemble ABCD’s, are not subject to these sunshine requirements. Our interviewers were frequently invited to attend sessions and view documents.
O – ACCESSIBILITY: Most ABCD’s we interviewed were receptive and glad someone was interested in their operation. A few interviewers did, however, report obstacles. Descriptions and contact information, though not always up to date, is easy to obtain for those citizens who can use the County Homepage’s new weblink to “Boards and Commissions.”
O – ALTERNATIVES: One alternative to proliferating ABCD’s might be conversion of some boards into integrated administrative departments. In general, Commissioners have more leeway in structuring their administrative departments than they do over ABCD’s’. But here are the obstacles: (a) NO, if state funds are involved; (b) NO, unless ORC specifically enables; (c) NO, if judicial appointments are involved and (d) NO, if other governments or agencies share appointing power. That leaves very few boards which could be converted, even with a Charter.
O – OVERHAUL?: The General
Assembly would need to change features of the ORC in order to cause changes our
interviewees favored. But the lawyers believe
the legislature has little interest in county governance or ABCD’s. A slightly more unitary