§ 4. Meetings.

A.

Open to Public. All Board meetings shall be open to the public, except as provided by Ohio law. All votes taken by the Board must be taken in open session, recorded by the Staff Attorney, and included in the Board's written decision.

B.

Notice of Public Meeting . The Staff Attorney shall provide notice of all regularly scheduled and special meetings pursuant to the Cincinnati Municipal Code.

C.

Regular Meetings . The Board shall conduct regularly scheduled meetings on the third Thursday of each calendar month, unless that Thursday is a City-recognized holiday. In cases of a City-recognized holiday, the meeting shall take place on the Thursday following the holiday. The Board is not required to hold a regularly scheduled meeting if no official matter is scheduled before the Board.

D.

Special Meetings. The Chair may, at his or her discretion, convene a special Board meeting. Notice of the time, place, and purpose of all special Board meetings shall be provided to all Board members by telephone or e-mail at least 24 hours before the special meeting. Special Board meetings shall be open to the public unless otherwise permitted by law. If a special meeting is open to the public, the Staff Attorney shall post notice of the time, place, and purpose of the special meeting for public viewing at the Department of Buildings and Inspections, the office of the Clerk of Council, and on the City's website.

E.

Agenda . The Staff Attorney shall prepare an agenda for each regularly scheduled Board meeting, providing a list of appeals to be heard and business to be discussed ("Agenda"). The Agenda must be published in the City Bulletin at least ten calendar days before the regular meeting date. The Staff Attorney must distribute the Agenda to the Board and make all associated case materials available to the Board at least seven calendar days before the regularly scheduled meeting. Items not listed on the Agenda shall not be considered by the Board, unless a majority of the Board members present vote to consider the item by leave.

F.

Quorum . A quorum for any meeting, or to undertake any official business, is four Board members. The Staff Attorney shall make a reasonable effort to notify all persons who were entitled to notice of an appeal of the failure to obtain a quorum before the hearing date. Failure to obtain a quorum shall have the effect of postponing a hearing until the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board, unless the Chair otherwise convenes a special meeting.

G.

Attendance . Any Board member who is unable to attend a meeting shall notify the Staff Attorney at least 24 hours before the meeting. The Staff Attorney shall make a reasonable effort to fill the temporary vacancy with an alternate Board member of the same appointment. Administrative Code Article XXX, Section 2, governs Board member attendance.

H.

Voting.

1.

Voting Rights. All Board members are voting members. Any Board member, including the Chair, may make a motion or second a motion.

2.

Official Board Action. The Board must adopt all official actions by a majority vote of the Board members participating in the vote at a meeting, unless a greater number of votes are expressly required by law or these rules.

3.

Roll Call Vote. All votes shall be taken by a roll call vote. However, the Chair may permit a straw poll vote at his or her discretion.

4.

Majority Vote. As used in these rules, the phrase "majority vote of Board members" shall mean an affirmative vote by a simple majority of the Board members participating in a vote.

5.

Abstentions. A Board member may abstain from voting on an item. For the purposes of these rules, an abstaining member counts toward satisfying quorum, but is not considered to have participated in the vote.

6.

Tie Vote. In the event of a tie vote on a motion, the motion shall be deemed to have failed.

7.

Record of Vote. The Staff Attorney shall record each Board member's vote on every motion.

8.

Conflicts of Interest. No Board member shall engage in the following conduct:

a.

Taking any official action, including participating in and voting upon, or in any other manner use or attempt to use his or her position to secure the approval of Board services, supplies, property, investments, or other contracts or acquisitions in which he or she, a family member, or anyone with whom he or she has an ongoing business relationship, has an interest.

b.

Use his or her position to obtain financial gain or benefit for himself or herself, a family member, or anyone with whom he or she has a business or employment relationship.

9.

Duty to Disclose Conflicts of Interest. Any Board member who may encounter possible conflicts of interest shall disclose to the Chair his or her possible conflict at least 24 hours in advance of a scheduled meeting. If the Chair has an issue of a possible conflict, he or she shall refer the conflict to the Vice-Chair.

10.

Conflict Determination. In the event that a Board member has an issue of a possible conflict, the Chair is encouraged to consult the City Solicitor, but the Chair is responsible for making the ultimate conflict determination. However, in those cases where the Chair refers an issue of a possible conflict to the Vice-Chair, the Vice-Chair shall determine whether the Chair has a conflict of interest.

11.

Recusals. In the event of a conflict of interest, the conflicted member shall remove himself or herself from the meeting room during that portion of the meeting involving the item from which that member is conflicted. A member who recuses himself or herself from consideration of an item due to a conflict of interest does not count toward satisfying quorum.