Councilman Wheeler told the Budget and Finance Committee that the ordinance before the panel contains three primary parts: municipal adoption of a cybersecurity program, required incident reporting and a provision allowing the city to adopt an ordinance to pay ransom if a ransomware attack required payout. "We brought this last week," Wheeler said, "there's 3 primary portions to this."

The measure would require the city to report cybersecurity incidents to the Ohio Cybersecurity Integration Center and to the Auditor of State and would authorize the chief technology manager to take appropriate actions, including making required disclosures and declaring an emergency when necessary. Wheeler said the council must pass a version before the end of the year but that the ordinance can be amended in the future.

Chair asked for a motion to suspend the rules and give a favorable report; members moved, seconded and approved the motion by voice vote. The committee advanced the ordinance to the next stage with a favorable report; specific ordinance language and any amendments will be considered by the full council in the next steps.