Board Meeting
There is a special Board Meeting tonight for the town. Was this advertised? I don’t think so. Let me refresh the Town Clerk on Article 7 of the Public Officers Law which constitutes the Open Meeting Law (OML). As a general state statute, applicable to the state and local governments, their boards and commissions, including public authorities, it requires that all meetings of a public body, with certain exceptions, be open to the public.
In brief, the law gives the public the right to attend meetings of public bodies, listen to debates and watch the decision-making process in action.
What is a meeting? “Meeting” is defined to mean “the official convening of a public body for the purpose of conducting public business.” As such, any time a quorum of a public body gathers for the purpose of discussing public business, the meeting must be convened open to the public, whether or not there is an intent to take action, and regardless of the manner in which the gathering may be characterized.
Notice of Meetings- The law requires that notice of the time and place of all meetings be given prior to every meeting.
If a meeting is scheduled at least a week in advance, notice must be given to the public and news media not less than 72 hours prior to the meeting. Notice to the public must be accomplished by posting in one or more designated public locations.
When a meeting is scheduled less than a week in advance, notice must be given to the public and news media “to the extent practicable” at a reasonable time prior to the meeting. Again, notice to the public must be given by means of posting.
The bulletin board maintained by the town clerk, as well as the entrance to the town offices would be considered as public locations.
When Can a Meeting be Closed? The Open Meetings Law provides for closed or “executive” sessions under circumstances prescribed in the law. It is important to emphasize that an executive session is not seperate from an open meeting, but rather is defined as a portion of an open meeting during which the public may be excluded.
To close a meeting for an executive session, the law requires that a public body take several procedural steps. FIRST, a motion must be made during an open meeting to enter into executive session; SECOND; the motion must identify “the general area or areas of the subject or subjects to be considered; and THIRD, the motion must be carried by a majority vote of the total membership of a public body. Futher a public body cannot close its doors to the public to discuss the subject of its choice, for the law specifies and limits the subject matter that may appropriately be discussed in excessive session. The eight subjects that mey be discussed behind closed doors include:
- matter which will imperil the public safety if disclosed;
- any matter which may disclose the identity of a law enforcement agency or informer;
- information relating to current or future invesigation or prosecution of a criminal offense which would imperil effective law enforcement if disclosed;
- discussions regarding proposed, pending or current litigation;
- collective negotiations pursuant to Article 14 of the Civil Service Law (The Taylor Law);
- the medical, financial, credit or employment history of a particular person or corporation, or matters leading to the appointment, employment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal or removal of a particular person or corporation;
- the preparation, grading or administration examinations; and
- the proposed acquisition, sale or lease of real propery or the proposed acquisition of securities, or sales or exchange of securities held by such public body, but only when publicity would substantially affect the value thereof.
These are the only subjects that my be discussed behind closed doors; all other deliberations must be conducted during open meetings.
A public body can never vote to appropriate moneys during a closed session. Although most public bodies may vote during a properly convened executive session, any vote to expend public monies must be takin in public.
AFTER MEETING MINUTES: The Open Meetings Law requires that minutes of both open meetings and executive sessions must be compiled and made available.
In short, this meeting should have been advertised but of course it wasn’t. We have a pretty good Town Board now, too bad they have a bad support staff to do the day to day work.
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