The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Ohio and asked of all candidates for this office.
See below for questions on
Sunshine laws
Click on a name for candidate information. See also more information about this contest.
1. What would you do to enforce Ohio's sunshine laws and open-records policy, given increased difficulty in accessing public records? (150 word limit)
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Answer from Mary Taylor:
As the next Auditor of State, I will make sure that I and the team around me are committed to enforcing Ohio's sunshine laws and open-records policy in a friendly and enthusiastic manner. I am committed to training the professionals in the office to fully understand Ohio's open-records laws so that we can serve as a resource to state and local governments and agencies in complying with the laws as well. I will have zero tolerance for anything but mandatory compliance of the law.
Answer from Barbara Sykes:
Currently, the Auditor's office trains and educates local government units on Ohio Sunshine laws by request. As State Auditor, I will expand this program through additional personnel to provide continuous education throughout the year to all units of government. I believe the Auditor's office can no longer maintain a passive approach to this issue, but is obligated to proactively educate citizens and local government units alike of the laws designed to protect and inform Ohio taxpayers.
Additionally, because the State Auditor's office is the single entity dealing with all Ohio public agencies, I will work to create a non-binding audit of each agency's open records policies as part of the audit process. Each annual audit will include a review of compliance with Ohio's sunshine laws, document retention policies, and staff training. I believe that the simple act of requiring agencies to report their public records procedures will increase compliance significantly.
Responses to questions asked of each candidate
are reproduced as submitted to the League.
Candidates' statements are presented as submitted. 150 Word limits apply for each question. Direct references to opponents are not permitted.
The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.
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