A public meeting by any other name is still a public meeting
Read more at the Flint Journal
GENESEE COUNTY, Mich. - Members of the county Board of Commissioners will stop
"leadership" meetings held behind closed doors, ending a long-standing practice
that shut the public out of discussions on sometimes controversial issues.
Board Chairman Archie H. Bailey said this week that he will no longer convene
the meetings that let commissioners talk among themselves and be briefed on
issues - some of which were resolved without ever becoming public.
The sessions date back at least 15 years, but were never a favorite of
Bailey, D-Flushing Twp., who said he attended only one since he was elected a
commissioner in 2002.
"What was discussed in leadership (committee) will be discussed in committee
meetings in public with an agenda that allows comment from the public," Bailey
said. "The aim is not to hide anything."
Commissioners have said there was nothing nefarious about leadership
meetings, which involved four or fewer commissioners - less than a quorum. No
votes were taken by the group, which had a rotating makeup depending on
invitations by the board chairman.
Commissioners have discussed issues ranging from autopsy services to animal
control to how a countywide hotel tax should be spent in committees, sometimes
scheduling more than one meeting on the same subject to avoid violating
Michigan's Open Meetings Act.