City Council Violates Public Meetings Act In/Around: Cheney

The Cheney City Council violated the state’s Open Public Meetings Act earlier this month, the city’s attorney said.

The violation came on Jan. 13 when the council met in executive session to discuss the possibility of budget-cutting layoffs.

Mayor Amy Jo Sooy said she was not aware of the narrow restrictions on holding executive sessions to talk about personnel matters.

She said she was relying on the advice of the city attorney, Steven Miller, when she called the executive session to talk about possible budget layoffs.

After the session, Sooy asked Miller to take a closer look at state law to make sure the mayor and City Council were on sure legal footing.

In a letter to Sooy dated Jan. 15, Miller said the meeting was a mistake and a violation of the open meetings law.

He said the law allows executive sessions to discuss the performance of individual employees, but not the overall operation of a city department facing budget cuts.

“It is my opinion that there is no remedial or corrective action to be taken, except to insure hereafter that the content of executive session discussion is closely confined to proper subject matter,” Miller said in his letter.

The Jan. 13 executive session also included discussion of a possible lawsuit involving the city as well as the city’s strategy in union negotiations. Miller said those are appropriate topics for executive sessions.

The Cheney Free Press published an editorial last Thursday chiding the city’s leaders for making the mistake.

Sooy said she believes in open government and the problem from Jan. 13 will not be repeated.

“The citizens must know what we are doing,” Sooy said. “Having sat out in the audience for years, I fully support the open meetings law.”

, DataTimes