City of Morrison Inadvertently Violates Open Meetings ActtheCity1.comMorrison City officials unintentionally violated the Open Meetings Act in a series of emails sent Wednesday, August 11, through Friday, August 13, 2010. The subject of the exchange was the review of the City’s budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. The Council was considering hiring a professional to assist in working through these financial issues. Alderman Barb Bees emailed the other Council members and the Mayor with the idea of bringing in local accountants to help on a volunteer basis. She suggested three names and asked these individuals be considered or give some thought to others. It was to be discussed at the budget meeting on August 24. In answering this email, Mayor Roger Drey expressed his opposition to two of theses people and offered one other name as a possibility. However, the Mayor hit the “reply to all” response, instead of just sending it to Bees. After receiving the Mayor’s message, Alderman Gus Hayenga and Alderman Dave Rose replied, and these also went out to the entire Council. It was their intent to reply to just the Mayor. Any member of the City Council or other City official may send a group email, and it is not considered a violation of the Open Meeting Act. It is when one member of the group sends a reply to the first email and copies any of the original recipients that a violation occurs. According to the Illinois Open Meetings Act, a majority of a quorum of the body in question constitutes a public meeting, if business affecting the public body is discussed. The Morrison City Council has eight members; a majority is five, so three Aldermen or two Aldermen and the Mayor make a majority. This violation was inadvertent. The Morrison City Council and City officials are sorry this occurred and will work to ensure it does not happen again. For more information, contact City Administrator Tim Long at 815-772-7657.
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