Public commenter urges council to take employee COLA discussion out of closed sessions

A public commenter identified in the transcript as "Mr. Cesy" told the Ohio City Council on May 26 that discussions about employee cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) should be held in public rather than behind closed doors.

"I think taking it out of the secret zone is a good thing," the commenter said, arguing that handling pay adjustments in private gives a poor public impression. The commenter said a prior recommendation had been for a 1.8% COLA that was later upgraded to 2.4% and noted the transcript also references "4%" in the same passage; the reference to 4% is unclear in context. He added the city manager had received a recent pay increase to move that salary toward the median for comparable city managers.

The commenter also noted that the city has filled its finance staffing with a newly arrived accountant: "today is the first day of your new accountant ... He does have a CPA and ... seems happy to be here," the transcript records. He said those staffing changes made public discussion of pay adjustments more appropriate.

The comment included a procedural observation that public records requests could be used to obtain survey documents referenced in the discussion, and urged that salary matters affecting many employees be handled openly. The transcript does not record a direct response to the comment from council members during the public-comment segment.

The meeting then adjourned to closed session; later, the city attorney reported the council had directed staff to return with additional information at a June 2, 2026 closed session following a public workshop.