(Greenfield, MA) At Wednesday’s Greenfield City Council meeting, the councilors discussed Open Meeting Law updates and their application in appropriate posting of the city’s meetings and agendas when the Superintendent postponed her report to the council as it was not detailed on the agenda.
Some councilors expressed their dissatisfaction with the current policy under Open Meeting Law, which is to list agenda items that can be reasonably foreseen at least 48 hours before the meeting, as councilors wished to hear from the Superintendent at the first City Council meeting since school resumed. According to Open Meeting Law, some changes may be made within the 48-hour window if they follow protocol, which may have allowed the Superintendent to give her report as was the case with updates from the Mayor’s Office to the agenda which were noted as having been received within the 48-hour window, at what time, and a reposting of the agenda.
The Open Meeting Law discussion was multidimensional as the council expressed the desire to receive information that would be discussed at the meeting with enough time to adequately prepare themselves and allow residents to also prepare for it. Another concern raised in relation to the Open Meeting Law not allowing for standing agenda items such as “New Business” and “Old Business” was that these items held space for topics that arose in the meeting, or after the agenda had been posted.
However, the key phrase in the Open Meeting Law appears to be “reasonably anticipated,” recommending that anything reasonably anticipated more than 48 hours before the meeting should be listed on the agenda, including what department heads and the Mayor’s office intends to share during their reports, yet allowing for other items to be added within the 48-hour window under the protocol.
The enforcement of the policy came after a concern was raised that the City Council allegedly violated Open Meeting Law.