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When the Town of Taylor violated Arizona’s Open Meeting Law (OML) earlier this year, Snowflake Town Manager Brian Richards and Town Clerk Katie Melser opted to attend the free OML training put on by Christina Estes-Werther, general counsel with the League of Arizona Cities and Towns on June 6, as a way of preventing the Town of Snowflake from coming into violation.
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At the Snowflake Town Council meeting on July 2, Richards reviewed the changes he and Melser had made to the agenda, which included the call to the public and reports by council members. Also included was council conduct outside of agendized meetings as per the OML.
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All members were present at the meeting including Mayor Lynn Johnson, Vice Mayor Kerry Ballard, Councilwoman Allison Perkins and councilmen Hunter Lewis, Byron Lewis, Cory Johnson and Greg Brimhall.
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Richards opened with, “When Taylor violated the (Arizona) Open Meeting Law, we decided we better go over to the training and make sure we were doing everything right as well.”
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Richards went on to share the new protocol that will be used in the call to the public. “Before we said you can’t discuss anything that is on the agenda in our call to the public.”
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But after reviewing the law as interpreted by the Arizona Attorney General’s Office and the League, Richards said the call to the public is a place for the public to discuss agenda items, as well as other things that are within the jurisdiction of the council.
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The call to the public is limited to three minutes per speaker and must be addressed to the council as a whole. At the end of that time, the council may respond to criticism made by those who have spoken; ask town staff to review a matter; and/or ask that a matter be put on a future agenda.
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“This is a complete reversal of what we have been doing for a long time,” continued Richards.
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When asked by the council if the public could speak on agenda items at the time the item is being reviewed and discussed, Richards noted, “The league does not recommend doing it for best practice as it opens that item up to a public hearing.”
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Richards then gave an example, “In the past, like at the planning and zoning portion of the meeting, we would ask if anyone had additional comments and we have let people talk. As a council, you can still do that, but you have to let everyone talk that wants to talk. If 50 people want to talk, you have to let all 50 people talk.”
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The second issue of OML that Richards brought before the council was splintering the quorum. Simply put, Richards said, “A quorum of council members is four people for our council. If you as a member of the council are out and about and you talk with one or two of the council members about an issue, and then those members talk with another member about the issue, then it becomes a quorum and is known as splintering the quorum, which is in violation of open meeting law.”
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Richards went on to say that best practice was to only talk together as a council during an agendized meeting and once the meeting is closed, there should be no further discussion.
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Melser shared an example, “Say there is a chamber dinner. As a council person you can tell people there is chamber dinner but you can’t say who is going or even encourage other council members to come. If it is not on the agenda, you cannot discuss it, even at the meeting.”
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Richards reminded the council that these communications can include texts, emails, voice mails and face-to-face. “Just be careful when you are out in the public. When giving council member reports, this is a chance for you to report on events that you observed and your experience, but there is no discussion on that between the members.”
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Town Attorney Robert Hall did share, “You as council members can talk to me at any time and it is privileged communications. You can also talk to staff and I would encourage you to do that. The staff’s purpose is to give you information, not political decision.”
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On a positive note, Richards concluded the discussion with, “I think our meetings will go faster and more orderly if we follow these rules.”
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Mayor Johnson echoed those words when he said, “Let’s all be diligent and do what we are supposed to do.”
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With no further review or discussion, the council unanimously approved the tentative budget for 2019-20 in the amount of $10.6 million, an increase of $554,484 over last year.
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With that approval, the town will now publish a Schedule A of the Auditor General’s budget forms in the newspaper in preparation for the public hearing at the council meeting at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 6, when the final budget will be presented for approval.
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In other business, the council:
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* Approved the June check register for $644,170.
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* Approved the standard application/affidavit and agreement for video service providers.
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* Approved an agreement with the Arizona Department of Revenue for local transaction privilege tax administration.
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* Approved the purchase of Dodge Durango pursuit vehicle from AZ Motors for the Snowflake-Taylor Police Department in the amount of $32,818.
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* Approved the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS) Pension Funding Policy.
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* Approved Larry Scarber for the PSPRS Local Board Chairperson.
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