Minutes-10-10-2023-Joint Meeting with Fire Departments and Work Session

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17 was brought up to the MMC group and it was a very quick no on the recording. She said that she thought it was interesting because the facilitator was recording the meetings just to keep track of notes and they told her she could no longer do that. She said that led to her needing to hire an assistant to come with her so she could keep track of the notes and discussion. She said that they were concerned they would be limited in what they could say if it was being recorded. Chair Bedford said she was one that had concerns about recording the meetings because of liabilities. She said she says what she is going to say but other people might not. John Roberts said that the MMC does not meet all of the statutory criteria for the open meetings laws to apply. He said the more formal the body becomes and the more responsibility they take on, then there becomes a stronger argument that it is a public body, and all three jurisdictions could get a slap on the wrist if it is not open to the public. Commissioner Hamilton said the fact that it is not being recorded and there are reservations about recording it, makes her wonder what the group is doing. She said if they are doing the work of the public, it should be open. Chair Bedford said that if the MMC meetings are limited to discussion about the Greene Tract then it should be open to the public. She said that just because it is open to the public does not mean that public comment must be accepted. John Roberts said that the first criteria for a meeting being subject to the open meetings law is that it has to be elected or appointed. He said that since this group was not created by anyone, it does not meet the criteria. Commissioner Hamilton asked if the interlocal agreement was the creation of this body. John Roberts said he does not think so because it only assigns certain items to be discussed and all agreements do that. Commissioner Portie-Ascott said that transparency is important. She said she is not in favor of the meetings continuing unless they are open to the public and recorded. Chair Bedford said that the MMC was specifically cited in the interlocal agreement for the Greene Tract, and it was voted on by all boards. John Roberts said that he does not think that creates a public body. He said that assigns the negotiation of certain aspects of that agreement but did not mandate meetings or set meeting schedules. He said that it is not a task force in his reading. Chair Bedford said she read a blog post from the School of Government about functions that governmental groups might partake in that would make them susceptible to the public meeting statutes. She said that if the group is deliberating, or hearing presentations, it gets to a point where they should be careful. She asked what administrative means in this case. John Roberts said it would be assigning people to do certain tasks and that the county does not have an administrative board. Chair Bedford said a member of the public was concerned about the advisory piece. John Roberts said the MMC certainly provides advice to their Boards. He said while there is no case law, he said there was a blog post from the School of Government about this exact type of scenario. He said the author's opinion is that it is not an advisory board. He said however, that when members are assigned responsibilities, the argument becomes stronger that they are a public body. He said the safest course is to make these meetings open to the public. Chair Bedford said she has learned not to make decisions with information the first time it has been presented. Commissioner Greene arrived at 8:23 p.m. Commissioner Richards asked if the MMC should even be making decisions. Chair Bedford said they were not technically making a final decision, but they were deciding what would be brought back to the respective boards for their final decision making.