10-04-94 CCM - Laserfiche WebLink

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MEMO Date: 10/18/94 To: Mary Kueffner - Lake Elmo City Administrator CC: Mayor City Council From: Lee Hunt 8810 55th St. No. Subject: Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting of 10/3/94 After following up on comments made by Councilperson Jess Mottaz at the Oct. 4th City Council meeting concerning a meeting of the Heritage Preservation Commission I have come to the conclusion that there was no prior notice given for that meeting, or an agenda published. As I am sure you are aware, the Heritage Preservation Commission, as a formal commission of the City, is governed by the provisions of the open meeting law. An agenda should have been prepared, and notice given. If it was an emergency meeting there are provisions for notice, but it appears the meeting was not an emergency. Also, if I am not mistaken, even if there was not a quorum present, they are an official body of the City, and any meeting of it's members when official business is discussed must follow the provisions of the open meeting law. If there was a meeting of the Heritage Preservation Commission that occurred that was in violation of the open meeting law, even if it was inadvertent, the City does need to take some action on this, as the lack of action would indicate that the City finds violations of the open meeting law to be not important. I would suggest that the Council direct the staff to investigate and determine if a violation occurred, if this is an isolated instance, or if other violations of the open meeting law have occurred. If a violation is determined, the City Attorney should then recommend any disciplinary action. I feel that it is important to investigate this matter completely, as there is currently an accusation by David Johnson that that an illegal meeting occurred. To quote David Johnson's complaint "This points to a secret meeting at some time after Feb. 25, `93 (perhaps 3/19/93 as Councilman Jess Mottaz suggests was the date of an illegal telephone pole conducted by Mary Kueffner)...". lam sure that if the City does not fully investigate this matter a further complaint will be filed by David Johnson demanding investigation of this incident.