Retirement governance committee adopts rule letting chair, with director, cancel regular meetings

The Cincinnati Retirement System governance committee voted Oct. 1 to add language to its governance manual allowing the chair, in consultation with the executive director, to cancel a regular meeting when there is no immediate need for the board to meet.

City solicitor Mr. Smith told trustees the board rules are broad enough to allow the change but that adding a short sentence to page 14 would clarify authority and reduce the risk of Open Meetings Act issues. "[T]he chair in consultation with the director may cancel a regular meeting of the board if it is determined that there is no immediate need for the board to meet," Mr. Smith said, describing the recommended insertion (transcript wording normalized for clarity).

Trustees questioned how the change would interact with the membership's ability to convene special meetings. Mr. Smith and Director Sahlstrom said a majority of trustees can still request and notice a special meeting if they disagree with a cancellation; the added sentence applies only to canceling regularly scheduled meetings and does not remove the board's ability to call special meetings.

A motion to adopt the edit was moved and seconded and passed on a roll‑call vote with all present voting yes. Chair Mark Minkaus said the language is a starting point and the committee may add further safeguards in a future governance‑manual discussion.

What’s next: staff will incorporate trustees’ suggested wording and clarifying language about regular versus special meetings and return a revised draft for further review before broader board consideration.