Yes, it got covered....well, sort of
So, yes, a public official can have a blog, can blog on public issues, can accept comment (even from other public officials) provided the issues commented on have been voted on in open meeting.
So if it's on Thursday's agenda, I can't blog on it on Tuesday, other than to say it's up. And if it gets tabled on Thursday for a vote in two weeks, no comment here.
Otherwise, we're good!
That's my understanding too. It's why I don't post much about anything related to the Leicester schools. The whole serial vote thing is pretty crazy and an easy trap to fall into.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly is!
ReplyDelete(For those who haven't done open meeting law training, "serial voting" is if you call someone, get their thought on a vote, and then pass that along to another member, you're in violation of open meeting law, due to "serial voting." It's the same as if you'd held a meeting to figure out who was voting how ahead of time.)
Don't they do this (hold a meeting to figure out who was voting how ahead of time) all the time in the state and federal legislature? I'm always hearing on the news about how this or that figure has talked to the other ones and they're confident they have the number of votes needed to pass omething.
ReplyDeleteI'll also add that I think there should be a requirement that every local politician have a one hour over view of open meeting law every year. There are people out there who have been on committees for fifteen or twenty years who have potentially not had open meeting law reviewed to them since they were first elected.
ReplyDeleteJoe: AHA! Yes, BUT (and here's where we all roll our eyes) the state and fed legislatures are exempt from open meeting law. They put that in the law.
ReplyDeleteJim, absolutely agreed.