Meeting Tonight?
Regular meeting is scheduled for tonight. All governing body members are able and willing to attend.
The roads are slick, but it's a small town and people could make it if they really wanted to. But it would be very difficult for anyone who doesn't live in town to make it.
Does the fact that people who don't live in town really wouldn't be able to attend cause Open Meeting concerns?
Any other thoughts?
Hope everyone's staying warm and safe. Thank you!
Kim
I'm not sure that would be an OMA issue.
25 O.S. §303 requires that meetings be open held at specified times and at
places which are convenient to the public. In Rogers v. Excise Bd. of
Greer Cty., 1984 OK 95, 701 P.2d 754, the Court held that there was an OMA
violation, in part, because the location of the meetings was not convenient
to the public since it was not accessible to the public. The meeting was
held on a legal holiday at a County building that was locked and closed to
the general public.
Any inconvenience as it relates to the general public's ability to attend
tonight's meeting wouldn't be a product of the location of the meeting - it
would be a result of the weather and condition of the roads. The argument
would have to be that you couldn't hold a meeting anywhere and not that the
particular location of the meeting was inconvenient. Effectively, the
argument would be that public bodies could not meet when weather and road
conditions met a certain criteria. And, to be blunt, it doesn't help the
argument that the elected representatives managed to be able to get to and
attend the meeting.
Now, for political purposes, there may be a reason to postpone the meeting
or to perhaps postpone consideration of a particular item or items if the
public was really interested in those items. But that would be a matter of
policy and not OMA compliance.
Matt
On Tue, Feb 18, 2025 at 3:03 PM Kimberlee Spady via Oama <
oama@lists.imla.org> wrote:
Regular meeting is scheduled for tonight. All governing body members are
able and willing to attend.
The roads are slick, but it’s a small town and people *could *make it if
they really wanted to. But it would be very difficult for anyone who
doesn’t live in town to make it.
Does the fact that people who don’t live in town really wouldn’t be able
to attend cause Open Meeting concerns?
Any other thoughts?
Hope everyone’s staying warm and safe. Thank you!
Kim
Oama mailing list -- oama@lists.imla.org
To unsubscribe send an email to oama-leave@lists.imla.org
I have attended OMA trainings with the AAG that does the training and enforcement. He has taken the position that hypothetically it would or at least may violate the OMA for the reasons Matt stated below –not at a convenient time and not accessible to the public.
From: Matt Love via Oama oama@lists.imla.org
Sent: Tuesday, February 18, 2025 3:26 PM
To: Kimberlee Spady kim@spadylaw.com
Cc: OAMA oama@lists.imla.org
Subject: [Oama] Re: Meeting Tonight?
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I'm not sure that would be an OMA issue.
25 O.S. §303 requires that meetings be open held at specified times and at places which are convenient to the public. In Rogers v. Excise Bd. of Greer Cty., 1984 OK 95, 701 P.2d 754, the Court held that there was an OMA violation, in part, because the location of the meetings was not convenient to the public since it was not accessible to the public. The meeting was held on a legal holiday at a County building that was locked and closed to the general public.
Any inconvenience as it relates to the general public's ability to attend tonight's meeting wouldn't be a product of the location of the meeting - it would be a result of the weather and condition of the roads. The argument would have to be that you couldn't hold a meeting anywhere and not that the particular location of the meeting was inconvenient. Effectively, the argument would be that public bodies could not meet when weather and road conditions met a certain criteria. And, to be blunt, it doesn't help the argument that the elected representatives managed to be able to get to and attend the meeting.
Now, for political purposes, there may be a reason to postpone the meeting or to perhaps postpone consideration of a particular item or items if the public was really interested in those items. But that would be a matter of policy and not OMA compliance.
Matt
On Tue, Feb 18, 2025 at 3:03 PM Kimberlee Spady via Oama <oama@lists.imla.orgmailto:oama@lists.imla.org> wrote:
Regular meeting is scheduled for tonight. All governing body members are able and willing to attend.
The roads are slick, but it’s a small town and people could make it if they really wanted to. But it would be very difficult for anyone who doesn’t live in town to make it.
Does the fact that people who don’t live in town really wouldn’t be able to attend cause Open Meeting concerns?
Any other thoughts?
Hope everyone’s staying warm and safe. Thank you!
Kim
Oama mailing list -- oama@lists.imla.orgmailto:oama@lists.imla.org
To unsubscribe send an email to oama-leave@lists.imla.orgmailto:oama-leave@lists.imla.org