By Dewey Terrill
JC Post
The Kansas Attorney General's Office has declined to pursue formal enforcement action following their decision that there were technical violations of the Kansas Open Meetings Act by a former Junction City Commission. But according to a letter submitted by the AG's Office to City Attorney Britain Stites they are asking for remedial action to resolve the violations.
The Attorney General's Office found that the city commission’s failure to comply with the statutory requirements for recessing into executive session when it did not include the subject to be discussed in its March 1, 2022, motion and other motions for executive session were mere technical violations of the KOMA that did not affect the public’s substantial rights. The pattern of deficient motions showed a need for remedial action. Members of the commission at the time included Pat Landes, Ronna Larson, Matthew Bea, Jeff Underhill and Nate Butler. Butler and Bea have since left the governing body.
Remedial actions listed by the Attorney General's Office included:
"Complete at least one hour of KOMA training within the next 90 days. We strongly encourage you, the clerk, and other city staff who work with the city commission to also attend this training
Provide a copy of the meeting minutes that reflect the training. If the commission does not record the training in its meeting minutes, please submit an affidavit that sets out the date and time of the training, who provided the training, and confirms the commissioner’s attendance;
Provide a copy of any training materials for our review; and
Establish and use a checklist or other similar protocol/process to ensure that the city commission meets all the statutory requirements for recessing into executive session each time it calls for such a session.
To ensure that the remedial actions have been taken the AG's Office is asking that the City provide them with a written report within 30 days of the date of this letter, describing the status of efforts to schedule or complete the training and, if not yet completed, the anticipated date of completion. Please also provide a copy of the executive session checklist/procedure."
Following their review, the Attorney General's Office concluded that the city commission’s approval of the $5,000 expenditure on an option to purchase real estate approved at the April 6, 2021 regular meeting did not violate the Kansas Open Meetings Act. However, they concluded that the commission’s motion to recess into executive session on March 1, 2022 failed to comply with the statutory requirements for recessing into executive session because the motion did not adequately describe the subject to be discussed.
The letter to Stites said," that the city commission’s failure to adequately state the subjects to be discussed in its motions violated the KOMA. We note this was not an isolated occurrence. Our review of entire commission’s motions revealed a pattern of omitting a statement describing the subject(s) to be discussed as required by K.S.A. 75-4319(a)."
According to the letter, "With these rules in mind, and based on our review, it is clear that the city commission’s March 1, 2022, motion to recess into executive session falls short of complying with the KOMA. A review of the motion helps to illustrate the lack of compliance with the stattutory requirements:
Commissioner Landes moved that the Commission recess for an executive session for 10 minutes at 8:27 p.m. to include the City Manager, City Attorney, and City Public Works director. The justification for the executive session is to have a preliminary discussion of the acquisition of real property and is provided by K.S.A. 75-4319(b)(6). The open meeting is to resume in this room at 8:37 p.m., seconded by Commissioner Larson. Ayes: Underhill, Landes, Butler, Larson, and Bea. Nays: None. Motion carried. "
City Manager Allen Dinkel confirmed that the March 1, 2022 topic revolved around a public works building and not the proposed slaughterhouse on Taylor Road.