Speak Out 5/22/14

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Investigate

City Council

Please investigate our new City Council!

Below are "Frequently Asked Questions" from the Missouri Attorney General Website regarding Missouri Sunshine Law. Regarding the May 5, 2014 Closed Meeting that our Poplar Bluff City Council participated I would question that they are in violation of the Sunshine Law. http://ago.mo.gov/sunshinelaw/faqs.htm@Q2

1) Did they give 24 hours' notice of propose close meeting and the reason for holding it? Apparently Degaris and Absheer "knew absolutely nothing about it" until Brannum made the motion. (Quote take from DAR may 6th, 2014.)

Section 610.022, RSMo, requires that public governmental bodies give at least 24 hours' notice of each proposed closed meeting and the reason for holding it by reference to the specific exception allowed under § 610.21, RSMo. Section 610.022, RSMo, also states that no public governmental body can move from an open meeting into a closed meeting with a roll call vote, and the vote and the specific section of § 610.021, RSMo, shall be publicly announced and entered in the minutes. (Excerpt from website)

2) Mr. Johnson quoted in the DAR May 6, 2014, "Over the past two weeks, we met three at a time at different places to discuss it." Johnson said.

According to the Sunshine Law, see below, these individuals were deliberating attempting to evade the Sunshine Law, by meeting secretively and in different places intentionally without a quorum.

Under the Sunshine Law, a meeting takes place when a majority or quorum of a public governmental body gathers to discuss or vote on public business (§610.010(5), RSMo, and Colombo v. Buford, 935 S. W. 2d 690 (Mo. App. W. D. 1996)). Therefore, if less than a quorum of the public body meets to discuss public business, it is not a "meeting" as defined under the Sunshine Law. However, the Sunshine Law will apply to meetings of groups with less than a quorum when the entity is deliberately attempting to evade the Sunshine Law. See, Colombo, cited above. For example, a public governmental body may not purposely meet in groups with less than a quorum to discuss public business and then ratify those decisions in a subsequent public meeting (excerpt from website)

DAR, Please take the initiative and have our New City Council Members investigated!

Boyers for

city manager

Coffee shop talk today was they were thinking of hiring Patty Boyers for city manager. I hope this is a rumor! If not it proves this city is run by Special interest groups and our city is corrupt.

Dumping

Bagby right

Yes. Hi. On your little thing in Speak Out here in my opinion please print this here. My opinion is that they did the right thing by getting Bagby out of there. He has done things wrong here in the city, so it's a good thing that he is OUT!

Why did they

fire Bagby?

Hi, I saw the public view on Bagby in Speak Out and it says how many agree or disagree with the firing. Would someone please explain why he got fired so I will understand why the city has to pay out almost $300,000.

Memorial

Gardens woes

Yes, I would like to speak out about the Memorial Gardens Cemetery. The roads in Memorial Gardens Cemetery has got pot holes all over it and they need to be . . . the whole cemetery needs to have paved roads.