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Closed session 3 items, one invalid?


Guest Gary J. F.

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Our Village Board had three items to discuss in closed session. Two related to bargaining issues, and one was an issue with direction on a contract. I felt the contract issue was not a negotiation, as much as a clarification on direction. I stated this to the Village president, but was ignored.

Q1- Is there a formal way to force the issue from closed session to open.

Q2-If this is indeed not a closed session item, how do I handle voting on the closed session? I agreed with two out of three.

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Our Village Board had three items to discuss in closed session. Two related to bargaining issues, and one was an issue with direction on a contract. I felt the contract issue was not a negotiation, as much as a clarification on direction. I stated this to the Village president, but was ignored.

Q1- Is there a formal way to force the issue from closed session to open.

Q2-If this is indeed not a closed session item, how do I handle voting on the closed session? I agreed with two out of three.

As far as RONR is concerned, there are no items that are required to be considered in closed session (aka "executive session"), nor are there any items that are prohibited from being considered in closed session. In other words, it makes no difference whether the meeting is closed or not.

In any event, going into or coming out of executive session requires only a majority vote (though it's often accomplished by unanimous consent).

Of course your rules may, and probably do, vary.

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As for agreeing with two out of three items: In Executive Session, each item should be dealt with through its own motion, thus you should be able to vote on each item as you feel it (or abstain if necessary.)

I think the original poster just meant he agreed with going into executive session to deal with two of the items, but didn't agree with going into executive session to deal with the third one.

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Trina, that's it exactly. I get the impression the open vs. closed session is more a GAB issue, as per ATY General guidelines for open meetings, than a RONR issue. I was just looking for a RONR way to pursue separation of the issues.

As noted (I think) a majority vote gets the assembly in or out of Executive Session (ES). It's up to them to determine which matters to handle in the secrecy afforded by ES. RONR notes that some Boards meet in ES all the time, so it's often a matter of general procedure. If a member felt that discussing the contract wasn't worthy of ES secrecy, s/he could simply make a motion to leave ES and the majority decides. That's the RONR way.

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