**FREE ACCESS ** City council holds closed session for vote, raising Sunshine Law concerns

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Raising Sunshine Law concerns

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Council holds closed session vote to name new public official

By DONNA FARLEY

Editor

Poplar Bluff City Council members were unable to reach a majority vote Tuesday on the person who will serve the remainder of a vacant elected term. The matter has been moved to the Aug. 7 closed session.

Seven interested members of the public were interviewed during a special open session meeting (see sidebar), but discussion and vote on the selection was taken into a closed meeting.

Missouri Press attorney Jean Maneke says the closed session was done in violation of the Sunshine Law, which governs what can and can’t be done outside the public eye. The matter was brought to the city’s attention Tuesday afternoon, prior to the meeting.

City attorney Mark Richardson indicated the topic met the employee exemption of Missouri’s open meetings law, allowing it to be discussed in closed session, said city manager Matt Winters. City officials were asked for comment on how they believe the closed session exemptions apply in this matter. Winters said Wednesday afternoon no additional information would be released.

The law and court rulings support that matters related to publicly elected officials should take place in open meetings, according to Maneke.

“State law specifically sets out the ‘impeachment’ process for discipline of elected officials, which I would point out occurs in an open meeting,” Maneke said. “Elected officials cannot be ‘fired’ or ‘disciplined’ by other elected officials. No state law gives officials the power to ‘discipline’ other officials.”

Maneke said previous decisions by Missouri courts have supported in specific cases that discussion and action regarding elected positions should take place in public.

“Back in 1980, a Missouri appellate court held that it was a violation of the sunshine law for a city council meeting to be closed to discuss a mayor’s salary,” Maneke said. “One key distinction in that case was that the mayor was an elected executive officer of the city, while employees were not. And Republican William Webster, in 1989 and in 1994, twice issued clear and pointed opinions that an elected official was not an ‘employee’ of a public governmental body.”

Robert Duckett, who was elected to the council in April, submitted his resignation in June, saying he has moved out of the city limits. Council members accepted letters of interest from residents who would like to fill the at-large position.

The person selected would serve until the April 2024 election, when the remainder of Duckett’s three-year term would be a ballot item.

The council previously appointed an individual to fill the remainder of council seat terms in 2016 and 2015. Those replacements were determined by a public vote of the council.

The decision to move Tuesday’s discussion and vote into closed session was approved with a 5-1 vote, with council member Barbara Ann Horton of Ward 3 casting a ‘no’ vote.

Three votes were taken in closed session, according to minutes released by the city Wednesday morning.

Those who submitted letters of interest for the position, in the order they spoke to the council, are: Jennifer Hill; Billy DePew; Marty Paskel; Jonathan Nauser; Sandra Pratt; David Boyer; and Ted Liszewski.

A motion was made by council member Robert Smith and seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Jerrica Fox to nominate DePew. The motion was amended to nominate both DePew and Liszewski, with council member Lisa Parson asking for the amendment, and council member Mark Massingham seconding the request. A roll call vote was as follows: Yes: Parson, Massingham, Fox, Mayor Shane Cornman; No: Horton, Smith. The motion passed by majority vote.

A motion was made by Smith and seconded by Jerrica Fox to appoint DePew to fill the vacancy. A roll call vote was as follows: Yes: Horton, Smith, Fox; No: Parson, Massingham, Cornman. The motion failed with a tie vote of 3 – 3.

Parson then made a motion, seconded by Smith, to move the item to the Aug. 7 closed session. A roll call vote was as follows: Yes: Parson, Horton, Smith, Massingham, Cornman; No: Fox. The motion passed by majority vote.

This article was updated at 4 p.m. Aug. 3.