HomeMy WebLinkAbout1978 07-11 Greavu: Open meeting law ties council's hands THE REVIEW ieLy //, /9e.
Greavu: Open meeting
law ties council's hands
BySCOTT CARLSONRA
"On my part I'm sorry this
' �` happened and this wont happen
"'EXE'
Staff Writer JI windagain,"Anderson vowed.
An attorney general's inter- ea"We told the officers that no PATROLMAN ROBERT
pretation of the Minnesota Open
Meeting law is"tying the hands" action could be taken and we Vorwerk said he invited some
of the Maple- were just there to listen,"Ander- council members to listen to the
wood Council, son continued."The violation of officers concerns.
• the city's may- the open meeting law,if any, See Greavu,Page 2 (E)
or complained wasp t intentional_
z < last week. •
John Greavu
made the corn-
. ; went at a
F Council meet-
ing,where
Councilman
• Norman An-
derson con-
tended that
they now fear violating the law
by going to meetings called by
citizens or city employees.
They said other councilmen
may be at the same meetings.
"I GET very upset with this
because I feel I'm being stymied
from going out and seeking
information,"Anderson said.
The two men made their com-
ments when a citizen,Mike
Wasiluk,asked questions about a
May 31 police officers'meeting
attended by some council mem-
bers.
Wasiluk,a former North St.
Paul-Maplewood District 622
school board member,said he
received calls from two people
that the meeting was held with-
out notification to the public.
Wasiluk said that the gather-
ing of two or more councilmen
for city business,without public
notice,violated Warren Span-
naus' 1974 open meeting guide-
lines.
"I believe in the open meeting
law,"Wasiluk said."I believe the
citizens of this country should\
have their process in the open.
ANDERSON SAID when
Wasiluk first questioned him
about the meeting, "I didn't feel
it was that great of a violation.
"On May 31 there was a group
of police officers that wanted the
council members to hear some
of their concerns,"Anderson
said.
Anderson and councilmen
Roger Fontaine,Earl Nelson and
Mayor Greavu attended the in-
formal cpccinn ha ca iA !
GI cad
•
,Y i Lr
g k s
Greavu Wasiluk Anderson
Continued from Page 1 men)should be there(at a meet-
ing)at the same time I just won-
"Within the patrol division we der if someone should leave the
weren't working as a unit,"he room,"he asked.
said."That's why as a team we
decided to talk." City Attorney Don Lais noted:
"I don't know of any cases that
Vorwerk said notice of the po- have gone to court on what we're
lice meeting was posted on the talking about here."He said that
department's bulletin board.The council members can meet with
notice indicated that council citizens.
members were invited to the
meeting,he added. But Lais warned the council-
men they should avoid situations
Fontaine contended that con- where they are called together
stituted adequate notice. and there is only one citizen.
But Councilman Donald "MY OWN experienceis that
Wiegert,who said he wasn't in- you've had a very stronpolicy
vited to the meeting,asked: on keeping everything out in the
"How often do you go to the po- open,"Lais told the council.
lice department?I don't know
that posting of the meeting in the "He indicated that Wasiluk
policedepartmentwould be suf- was only asking the council to
ficient to get me to go to the abide by that policy.
meeting. "From now on everything(the
Nelson said he learned of the meetings)should be in the city
meeting from Fontaine. "I had hall and get it(notice)in the
no invitation but I'm a rookie newspapers,"Greavu said.
(councilman)and I thought there
was something going on that I
ought to know about,"he said.
• AN ANGRY Greavu contend-
ed no one was denied access to
the meeting. "Anybody could
have come who wanted to
come,"he told Wasiluk.
Anderson said:"I find it a
problem being a councilman and
not going around and hearing
what other people have to say.
"If two or three of us(council-