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Selectman

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At our next Select Board meeting it will be only an Executive Session - it is not a regularly scheduled meeting - to discuss with our Town Attorney regarding roles and responsibilities of the Select Board, Pursuant to 1 M.R.S.A. ss 405 (6) (E). We will "Call To Order" the meeting, make a motion to go into Executive Session, discuss the matter, make a motion to come out of Executive Session, and then Adjourn.

My question: Before we adjourn, can the Select Board make a decision and vote on the discussion and then adjourn the meeting? Does this meeting have to start and end with public attendance? Or can the Select Board go ahead without a public in attendance?

Thank you.

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2 hours ago, Selectman said:

Q1. Before we adjourn, can the Select Board make a decision and vote on the discussion and then adjourn the meeting?

Q2. Does this meeting have to start and end with public attendance?

Q3. Or can the Select Board go ahead without a public in attendance?

A1. Yes. There is no rule to stop you from doing that.

A2. No. There is no rule which says you ever need any public in attendance.

A3. Yes. There is no rule which says you ever need any public in attendance.

I assume that you are asking a question about Robert's Rules of Order, and are NOT asking a legal question about "1 M.R.S.A. ss 405 (6) (E)", whatever that is.

We (the people who post answers) cannot give legal advice.

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Is there anything authorizing this board to hold special meetings. and were those procedures followed?  If either of those fail to be true, then this is not a meeting, just a bunch of people sitting around and talking.  Certainly, they can't, if that's the case, conduct business, and I'm not clear on how they could bind themselves to secrecy.

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Thank you all for your responses.  From what I understand:

1) the Board starts off as a regular meeting, Calling to Order;

2) someone makes a motion to go into Executive Session, it is seconded, discussed, and voted on;

3) talk about what we were there for;

4) someone makes a motion to come out of Executive Session, it is seconded, discussed, and voted on;

5) we are back to a regular meeting to vote on anything that we had discussed, it is seconded and voted on; (provided there was something to vote on)

6) then adjourn.

Is this correct?

Is it also correct that the public does not have to be there only for the "opening" and "closing" of the meeting?

We were told that the public has a right to know what, if any, we decided upon in Executive Session. Is this correct?

Thank you.

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53 minutes ago, Selectman said:

Q1.) Is it also correct that the public does not have to be there only for the "opening" and "closing" of the meeting?

Q2.) We were told that the public has a right to know what, if any, we decided upon in Executive Session. Is this correct?

A1.) Correct, per Robert's Rules of Order.

A2.) Incorrect, per Robert's Rules of Order.

***

Or are you asking a legal question about state law?

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Most of this is covered by your Sunshine Laws, if you are a public body, and we don't give legal advice.

I will note that since, according to your  scenario, your vote will take place in public session, the public will know what was decided upon, which seems correct.  But the nature of debate and discussions in executive session remain confidential (in some cases until the need for confidentiality no longer exists, but that's often a legal question that varies by jurisdiction).

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19 hours ago, Selectman said:

Thank you all for your responses.  From what I understand:

1) the Board starts off as a regular meeting, Calling to Order;

2) someone makes a motion to go into Executive Session, it is seconded, discussed, and voted on;

3) talk about what we were there for;

4) someone makes a motion to come out of Executive Session, it is seconded, discussed, and voted on;

5) we are back to a regular meeting to vote on anything that we had discussed, it is seconded and voted on; (provided there was something to vote on)

6) then adjourn.

Is this correct?

So far as Robert's Rules of Order is concerned, there is no need to come out of executive session - the motions and votes can also take place in executive session. Applicable law may provide otherwise.

19 hours ago, Selectman said:

Is it also correct that the public does not have to be there only for the "opening" and "closing" of the meeting?

We were told that the public has a right to know what, if any, we decided upon in Executive Session. Is this correct?

So far as RONR is concerned, the public doesn't have to be there at all, and the public doesn't have the right to know anything.

It seems that your question isn't about RONR, but is instead about your state's "Open Meeting Law" or "Sunshine Law." Such questions are beyond the scope of RONR and this forum.

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22 hours ago, Selectman said:

Thank you again ... my question is just a procedure/policy question on Executive Sessions.

 

The problem is that for a public body, some of the procedural matters are covered in RONR, and others are covered in state law.  We can comment on the former, but not the latter, so any of our answers, based solely as they must be on the rules in RONR are bound to be incomplete.

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9 minutes ago, Selectman said:

I have looked in my RONR book, under Executive Session, and cannot find where it states that the public does not have to be present at the beginning of the meeting or at the end. Can someone help me out with this? I will need proof of this, that is why I am asking. Thanks.

"Nonmembers, on the other hand—or a particular nonmember or group of nonmembers—can be excluded at any time from part or all of a meeting of a society, or from all of its meetings." (RONR, 11th ed., pg. 644)

Since this is a public body, however, I must reiterate that any applicable procedural rules in federal, state, or local law on this subject (which there almost certainly are) will take precedence over RONR, and I strongly advise that you research such provisions before proceeding.

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5 hours ago, Selectman said:

I have looked in my RONR book, under Executive Session, and cannot find where it states that the public does not have to be present at the beginning of the meeting or at the end. Can someone help me out with this? I will need proof of this, that is why I am asking. Thanks.

It does not state that.  As far as RONR is concerned, the public (i.e. non-members) never have the right to attend meetings.

But your Sunshine Laws may very well grant that right, at least for public portions of the meeting, and these laws take precedence over the rules in RONR.  

In other words, you can search all day in your RONR book and never find the answer, because it's not there, except indirectly where it tells you that procedural rules in applicable state law supersede the rules in RONR.

Re-asking the question is unlikely to provide a different answer from those that have already been provided.

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