City of Marion in the spotlight
The good news is the City of Marion is drawing statewide attention. The bad news is it's not for extraordinary economic development, a population explosion, or one of our famous festivals.
"The Liberty Sentinel" is a publication focusing on open government in the state of Kansas and is distributed to all the newspapers in the state. Editor Richard Gannon is the governmental affairs director for Kansas Press Association.
This week, Marion is in the spotlight.
Patrick Henry once said that liberty is never secure as long as government does business in secret.
Earlier this year, the Marion City Council was accused of violating the Kansas Open Meetings Act (KOMA).
Under Kansas law, citizens may report KOMA violations to either the local county/district attorney or to the state attorney general.
The Marion City Council complaint was reported to Marion County Attorney Susan Robson for investigation and disposition.
As reported in the Marion County Record, the KOMA complaint involved the city council meeting of Feb. 26, where a third party was invited by the council to participate in an executive session.
The city invited Marion Planning Commission and USD 408 representatives to discuss attorney-client privileged information in the nonpublic session.
Generally, when a third party is present for discussions between an attorney and client, the attorney-client privilege ceases to exist.
Some individuals knowledgeable of KOMA law would insist the Marion City Council executive session did not meet the qualifying criteria for attorney-client privilege and thus resulted in a violation of the Kansas Open Meetings Act.
However, Robson determined the executive session was a "judgment call" and the city council had substantially complied with the statute.
An interesting aspect in the case is Robson's letter to Marion City Attorney Dan Baldwin. As reported by the Marion County Record, Robson stated in her letter that she had reviewed minutes from the meeting, state statute, and consulted with the League of Kansas Municipalities during the course of her investigation.
The League of Kansas Municipalities is a statewide organization representing the interests of city governments. Their operational budget is funded by tax dollars generated from membership dues paid by city governments and they provide various member services that include lobbying and legal assistance.
Consulting with the League during the course of the investigation does not instill confidence in a fair and impartial investigation. With their obvious conflict of interest, the League would inherently advocate a favorable outcome for the Marion City Council.
Furthermore, if the League was being consulted for KOMA clarification, the Kansas Attorney General's office would have been a more appropriate agency from which to seek counsel.
It is important to note, K.S.A. 75-4317 states, in part, "In recognition of the fact that a representative government is dependent upon an informed electorate, it is declared to be the policy of this state that meetings for the conduct of governmental affairs and transaction of government business to be open to the public."
As a note to everyone, state law requires county/district attorneys to report all locally generated KOMA complaints and the disposition of the complaints to the attorney general's office.
The Kansas Attorney General assembles the information into an annual report that is made available to the public.
— Richard Gannon
