Monday’s council meeting was another exercise in futility. As an observer and reporter, I was appalled when the mayor called out a council member — like a student in a classroom. She stifled him which ended the discussion about an important topic — executive sessions.
Kudos to Steve Smith for questioning the number of executive sessions requested at each meeting. Some council members missed the points Smith was trying to make. Smith questioned whether some of the topics brought to executive sessions could be handled internally — by paid department heads. He also wanted more background information about executive sessions in the information packets provided by the city administrator prior to meetings.
However, Mayor Mary Olson said the administrator didn’t always know about the executive sessions until they are placed on the agenda.
How can that be? Isn’t the administrator in charge of the departments with the council setting policy and overseeing the administrator’s activity?
There are only a few topics the city council can talk about in executive sessions, which include acquisition of property, non-elected personnel, attorney-client privilege, and trade secrets. As constituents, we should demand more accountability for what goes on behind closed doors.
It all comes down to trust.
The public has to trust that city officials are discussing a topic that meets the closed session requirement and not deciding other city business. The council has to trust the administrator enough to let him do the job he’s being paid to do.
Having several closed sessions at meetings — Monday night there were three — makes the public suspicious.
Executive sessions should be few and far between. They should be a last resort when an issue cannot be resolved other than through that action. It should not be a catchall or an opportunity to vent or complain.
Transparency in government is something everybody talks about but few accomplish.
A council member being stifled in an open meeting makes me concerned about what goes on in closed sessions.
— susan berg