e-Edition
Sign up for email newsletters
Sign up for email newsletters
e-Edition
TRENDING:
Perry Village Councilman Curtis Curd has created and proposed two pieces of legislation aimed at prohibiting the community’s government leaders from signing nondisclosure agreements.
A resolution and an ordinance authored by Curd received first readings at council’s April 9 meeting.
Village ordinances and resolutions normally receive three readings before council votes whether to pass or reject these measures. However, council also has the option of suspending the three-reading rule and passing legislation as an emergency on a first or second reading.
Resolution 21-2026 calls for Perry Village Council to “express and declare its full support, urging the Ohio General Assembly to pass Ohio House Bill 695.”
If approved, HB 695 would forbid village mayors, county commissioners, township trustees and members of a village council from knowingly entering into a nondisclosure agreement connected to their official duties in Ohio. That summary was listed in a news release from state Rep. Adam Bird, R-New Richmond, who is a co-sponsor of the bill.
A nondisclosure agreement, as it pertains to this legislation, is a pact or contract that includes a provision or clause prohibiting the designated individuals from disclosing, discussing, describing or commenting on matters related to their official duties, according to the news release.
Curd also wrote and put forth Ordinance 2026-05, which would prohibit the Perry Village mayor and members of Village Council from entering into nondisclosure agreements regarding public matters. Any of these leaders who violate this mandate would be subject to a civil fine of no more than $1,000, the legislation stated.
He noted that even if the Ohio General Assembly would reject House Bill 695, Perry Village could still have a law that prohibits the mayor and council members from signing NDAs if council ratifies Ordinance 2026-05.
Curd said he decided to propose the measure “due to the current climate of transparency and trust regarding local elected officials in Perry Village.”
“I do not believe that public officials should be entering into nondisclosure agreements,” said Curd, who is one of three new council members who were elected in November. “The very nature of a nondisclosure agreement, while currently legal in local government business, runs contrary to the spirit of Sunshine Laws in Ohio.”
Curd said he feels that the type of self-regulation offered by Ordinance 2026-05 “works to mend public trust, ensuring transparency is maintained going forward.”
The practice of public officials signing NDAs on matters relating to their official duties became a topic of discussion at the April 9 Village Council meeting. One part of that meeting featured a public comment session which focused on a proposal to construct a data center on the former Champion Farm in Perry Village and Township.
Perry Township resident Dawn Bubonic asked Mayor James Gessic if he or any members of council signed NDAs with Province Group, the California-based developer who wants to build the data center.
Province, in June of 2024, entered into an agreement with the villlage to buy 163 acres of the Champion Farm for $8.4 million. That deal still has not been completed.
Gessic responded to Bubonic’s question by saying that he signed an NDA at the beginning of discussions with Province. He said the agreement covered a period of two months.
When asked why he entered into the NDA, Gessic said it was to start negotiations with the developer.
Later in the public comment session, a resident asked the three council members who were on the board in 2024, and voted in favor of the sales agreement, if they signed NDAs with Province.
Elias Coss, Mike Glover and Becky Shimko all individually replied: “No.”
Copyright 2026 News-Herald. All rights reserved. The use of any content on this website for the purpose of training artificial intelligence systems, algorithms, machine learning models, text and data mining, or similar use is strictly prohibited without explicit written consent.
