The Winslow City Council received an overview of the open meeting law by attorney Nicholle Harris during last week’s city council work session. “Public meetings and serving as a public body means that all of the business that we conduct should be open and in the light of the public,” said Harris. “The purpose of the open meeting law is to open government business to public scrutiny and to prevent secret decision making.”
Many stipulations and rules are involved in open meeting law. Harris explained “Meetings of public bodies must be conducted openly, notices and agendas must inform the public of all matters covered and if there is any ambiguity in the law, we are to interpret it in favor of open and public meeting.” Meetings, as defined by Harris are, “The gathering in person or through technological devices of a quorum of members of the public body at which they discuss, propose, or take legal action.”
Electronic mail can also fall under the category of meetings. “Any exchange of electronic communications among the quorum of a public body that involves a discussion, deliberation or the taking of legal action by the public body concerning a matter likely to come before the public body for action,” constitutes a meeting covered by the law she explained.
Open meeting law states that anyone can attend public meetings and all legal action must occur in that public setting. Clarity concerning electronic broadcasting through Facebook or other such social media was also discussed by Harris. “Live broadcasts are allowed as long as they don’t disrupt the meeting.” Regarding social media, Harris added, “It is not a violation if a member expresses an opinion or discusses an issue with the public through social media as long as two criteria are met.”
According to Harris, those criteria are; the opinion or discussion is not principally directed at or directly given to another council member, and there is no concerted plan to engage in deliberation to take legal action. “If you’re just giving your opinion on something, that’s fine. But, if you start posting on each other’s pages or interacting with each other on something that should be before a council meeting, then you get in to violations.”
The law requires public bodies to post all notices and agendas on their website within 24 hours in advance. “There are some exceptions,” Harris said, “such as an emergency meeting but those are very rare.” The agenda should include the date, time and location of the meeting in question and, “All agendas must list the specific matters to be discussed, considered or decided upon,” she said. Public bodies may only discuss matters listed on the correlating agenda. Minutes from meetings must be posted publicly within three days and provide an accurate description of all legal actions proposed, discussed or taken. Minutes are to remain on the city website for at least one year.
Violation of open meeting law could result in fines of up to $2,500 and removal of the offender from the public body. Such fines are payable only by the violating member of the public body and cannot be paid for using public funds. “Discussion is not necessary to create a violation,” Harris said. “If a quorum of the public body is at an event and they propose something that should be considered by the council, that could be a violation of open meeting law. It is very strict.”
According to Harris, if a violation occurs, “All action that you have taken, say, if you discuss and take action on an item that wasn’t on the agenda, it’s null and void. There is a ratification process that can take place if that happens, including notifying the public. Also, most likely, the Arizona Attorney General’s Office will launch an investigation and we will have to provide information to them.”
More information on Arizona open meeting law can be found on the City of Winslow website at www.winslowaz.gov or by contacting the city clerk at City Hall located at 21 N. Williamson Ave.
