Cleveland Heights committee advances ordinances limiting city email use and restricting access

The Cleveland Heights Administrative Services Committee voted June 30 to advance proposed ordinances that would (1) encourage or require city employees and elected officials to use official city email for city business and (2) prohibit review of city-provided email accounts except under limited conditions.

Chair Craig Cobb led the discussion and described changes he drafted to the mayor’s original proposal for rules on city email. Cobb said he had “put consideration of that legislation on hold because I thought the introduction of it … was political,” and later said the package is meant to prohibit review of council emails “without consent or unless it is done by the law department in responding to a lawful records request.”

Why it matters: Council members said the measures respond to concerns that the mayor or others may have accessed council members’ city-provided email accounts during an investigation into possible sunshine-law violations. Committee members also raised practical questions about enforcement and technology: several asked whether the city’s email system can be modernized to allow secure mobile access before a strict requirement is imposed.

Details of the proposals and committee discussion

- Scope: The draft changes discussed would (a) expand who is issued an official city email to include council and each city employee and may include contractors, (b) prohibit non‑employees from using city accounts, and (c) require, “when practical,” that city business be conducted using the official city email account, subject to Ohio Revised Code chapter 149 and section 149.43 (the state’s public-records/open‑meetings provisions).

- Access restrictions: The draft would prohibit review of city‑provided email accounts except in response to a public‑records request reviewed by the law department and with consent in non‑records situations. Chair Cobb framed that change as intended to prevent unilateral access by the mayor or other officials: “My read of that is that he, yes, he has been looking at our emails,” Cobb said, adding that if true the practice would be “outrageous.”

- Practical concerns: Multiple council members said the city’s current email system sometimes prevents access while traveling (including from outside the country) and that upgrades already approved in the budget are needed before strict requirements are imposed. One council member said, “I really question the need of this legislation,” adding support for waiting until the email system is modernized.

- Implementation questions: Committee members asked staff and the law director to clarify whether the ordinances would conflict with the charter or state law and whether employees’ consent language in HR policies differs from the status of elected officials. The committee also discussed whether council and board/commission chairs could be given dedicated .gov accounts for boards and commissions, and whether stipends or city-provided devices should be budgeted to avoid forcing officials to use personal phones or incur personal expense.

Outcome and next steps

A motion to advance the ordinance package to the Committee of the Whole passed by voice vote. The committee chair said he intends to present the measures as emergency legislation at the next committee meeting and asked the law director to review the drafts for form and potential legal conflicts before full council consideration.

What remains unresolved: The committee requested legal review on whether the mayor has authority to access or review council email accounts and asked IT to report back on the feasibility of secure mobile access and creating committee/board email accounts. The proposals as discussed do not include monetary penalties in the draft ordinance under consideration.