An open letter about open meetings

The Saratoga Sun would like to commend the Saratoga Airport Board and Saratoga Mayor Ed Glode for their understanding of the seriousness of Wyoming’s open meetings statutes.

Due to a lack of communication with the Saratoga Sun, and an apparent lack of understanding of open meeting law regulations by the town clerk, the airport board did not convene their monthly meeting because they did not give sufficient public notice of the meeting. This was evidenced by the chair of the board and at least one member of the public showing up at town hall at the regularly scheduled meeting time on Veterans Day.

Mayor Glode has said this should raise awareness among town boards and commissions. Glode further said he would look into training from the Wyoming Association of Municipalities (WAM) for town officials, appointees and staff regarding pertinent statutes for the proper conduct of public meetings.

Meeting times that were changed due to the federal holiday were posted on the front door of town hall. When questioned about this being sufficient public notice, the town clerk said that this was the way the town has provided notification in the past and that the town attorney has said this is an acceptable practice.

The Rules

To stress the seriousness of following the letter of statute 16-4-403 subsection (a) states “No action of a governing body of an agency shall be taken except during a public meeting following notice of the meeting in accordance with this act.”

Statute 16-4-404, subsections (a) and (b) mandates a board, commission, or council which does not have a regular meeting schedule defined by ordinance, resolution, bylaws or rule or does not need to meet regularly, the agency shall provide notice of their next meeting to any person who requests it. The Saratoga Sun has a standing request for notice of all public meetings held by the town of Saratoga.

Furthermore, if a meeting is not held at the regularly scheduled time, it is considered a special meeting and has its own rules. A special meeting may only be called for by the presiding officer of the governing body and notice of the meeting must be provided to each newspaper of general circulation, radio or television station requesting the notice. That notice, required to specify the date, time and the business to be transacted at the special meeting, is to be provided no less than eight hours before the meeting. Statute 16-4-404 subsection (b) further states, “No other business shall be considered at a special meeting.”

Based on the mandates of the statutes, any business conducted or action taken at a meeting that does not comply with Title 16, Chapter 4, Article 4 is null and void. This means anyone wishing to contest an action taken at a meeting which does not satisfy the open meetings statutes has an easy way to nullify that action.

To further emphasize the seriousness of intent of the open meetings statutes, the statutes include a penalty section. Statute 16-4-408 states, “Any member or members of an agency who knowingly or intentionally violate the provisions of this act shall be liable for a civil penalty not to exceed seven hundred fifty dollars ($750) except as provided in this subsection. Any member of the governing body of an agency who attends or remains at a meeting knowing the meeting is in violation of this act shall be liable under this subsection unless minutes were taken during the meeting and the parts thereof recording the member’s objections are made public or at the next regular public meeting the member objects to the meeting where the violation occurred and asks that the objection be recorded in the minutes.” The civil liability is clear and should not be taken lightly by either the town agencies or the town clerk who is presumably responsible for being aware of the state statutes and should advise the town on such matters. The town attorney should also have intimate knowledge of the state statutes and advise the town properly in these matters.

Be civil

Saratoga Sun staff have also noted a periodic lack of civility at some town meetings. This applies to the actions and reactions of both town officials and the public attending the meetings. According to the WAM handbook entitled “Keeping Public Meetings on Track,” the onus of enforcing a civil dialogue and controlling the focus of a meeting is on the presiding officer. The Saratoga Sun has noticed the best organized and most effective meetings have a strong and fair leadership. Those meetings also have agency members that keep their discussions unbiased and show respect for others present.

Citizens who attend public meetings should also show respect for the officials. They are generally working hard at jobs which are largely voluntary.

Members of our governing bodies should also know or be able to reference the appropriate sections of Robert’s Rules, the standard for any type of official meeting. One specific set of rules to follow is when to recuse yourself from discussion or action. If any matter brought before a board, commission or council involves a sitting official, that person should remove themselves immediately. The Saratoga Sun has noticed the lack of recusal more than once and saw at least two instances of this at the last Saratoga Planning Commission meeting.

If confronted on a specific legal issue, the Saratoga Sun would like to see government employees and officials respond respectfully and not take a defensive, argumentative stance. A “that’s the way we’ve always done it,” position is not acceptable.

Mayor Glode said in light of the open meetings law issues brought up that it is time for Saratoga’s government to engage in training to make sure they fully comply with pertinent Wyoming statutes. We at the Saratoga Sun applaud this acknowledgement and initiative. We also suggest that our local officials and appointees use available guidance from WAM, or elsewhere, to become more familiar with state statutes and the guiding principles of Robert’s Rules.