02-25-2015 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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RELEVANT LINKS: Minn. Stat. § 13D.03, subd. 3. Minn. Stat. § 13D.05, subd. 3(a). Minn. Stat. § 131.05, subd. 3(a). Minn. Stat. § 13D.01, subd. 3. IPAD 05-013 (advising that a government entity could close a meeting under this exception to discuss its contract with an independent contractor when that contractor is an individual human being). IPAD 14-007 (discussing what type of summary is sufficient). Minn. Stat. § 1 3D.05, subd. 3(b). Brainerd Daily Dispatch, LLC n. Dehen, 693 N.W.2d 435 (Minn. Ct. App. 2005). Prior Lake American v. Mader, 642 N.W.2d 729 (Minn. 2002). Northwest Publications, Inc. v. City of St. Paid, 435 N.W.2d 64 (Minn. Ct. App. 1989). Minneapolis Stat cf Tribune v. Housing and Redevelopment Authority in and for the City of Minneapolis, 251 N.W.2d 620 (Minn. 1976). If an action claiming that other public business was transacted at the closed meeting is brought during the time the tape is not public, the court will review the recording privately. If it finds no violation of the open meeting law, the action will be dismissed and the recording will be preserved in court records until it becomes available to the public. If the court determines there may have been a violation, the entire recording may be introduced at the trial. However, the court may issue appropriate protective orders requested by either party. b. Performance evaluations A public body may close a meeting to evaluate the performance of an individual who is subject to its authority. The following procedure must be used to close a meeting under this exception: • The public body must identify the individual to be evaluated prior to closing the meeting. • The meeting must be open at the request of the individual who is the subject of the meeting, so some advance notice to the individual is needed in order to allow the individual to make a decision. • Before closing the meeting, the council must state on the record the specific grounds permitting the meeting to be closed and describe the subject to be discussed. • The meeting must be electronically recorded, and the recording must be preserved for at least three years after the meeting. • At the next open meeting, the public body must summarize its conclusions regarding the evaluation. The council should be careful not to release private or confidential data in its summary. c. Attorney-client privilege Meetings between the governing body and its attorney to discuss active, threatened, or pending litigation may be closed when the balancing of the purposes served by the attorney-client privilege against those served by the open meeting law dictates the need for absolute confidentiality. The need for absolute confidentiality should relate to litigation strategy, and will usually arise only after a substantive decision on the underlying matter has been made. This privilege may not be abused to suppress public observations of the decision-making process, and does not include situations where the council will be receiving general legal opinions and advice on the strengths and weaknesses of a proposed action that may give rise to future litigation. League of Minnesota Cities Information Memo: 11/14/2014 Meetings of City Councils Page 12