A breakfast meeting tentatively scheduled for tomorrow between Concord school board members, city councilors, and members of the Legislature, was abruptly canceled today after at least one resident raised the issue of whether or not the meeting would be a violation of New Hampshire's Open Meeting Law.
The breakfast meeting was scheduled at the request of school officials a couple of weeks ago, after representatives filed a number of bills which would affect the board. The bills include a change in the way the board is elected, separating them into districts instead of at-large candidates and a bill to put any bonds over $5 million on the ballot, to be approved or rejected by voters via citywide referendum.
It was rumored that public policy would be discussed at the breakfast but it was unknown whether a quorum of the board or council would be in attendance. All meetings involving elected boards where a quorum is present must be open to the public unless they discuss sensitive negotiations, litigation, or personnel records, according to the Open Meeting Law.
When a member of the community inquired to school administration about the breakfast, he was reportedly told it was an "invitation-only" event. The community member then mentioned the Open Meeting Law and said that if a quorum was present and the public was not allowed to attend, it might be against the law. The school employee stated that she didn't know if that was accurate and didn't know if there would be a quorum present. The community member said he wasn't objecting to the meeting but he thought it should not be a means to discuss public policy.
Earlier this evening, a legislator confirmed that the meeting had been canceled indefinitely, with no reason given.
The breakfast meeting was scheduled at the request of school officials a couple of weeks ago, after representatives filed a number of bills which would affect the board. The bills include a change in the way the board is elected, separating them into districts instead of at-large candidates and a bill to put any bonds over $5 million on the ballot, to be approved or rejected by voters via citywide referendum.
It was rumored that public policy would be discussed at the breakfast but it was unknown whether a quorum of the board or council would be in attendance. All meetings involving elected boards where a quorum is present must be open to the public unless they discuss sensitive negotiations, litigation, or personnel records, according to the Open Meeting Law.
When a member of the community inquired to school administration about the breakfast, he was reportedly told it was an "invitation-only" event. The community member then mentioned the Open Meeting Law and said that if a quorum was present and the public was not allowed to attend, it might be against the law. The school employee stated that she didn't know if that was accurate and didn't know if there would be a quorum present. The community member said he wasn't objecting to the meeting but he thought it should not be a means to discuss public policy.
Earlier this evening, a legislator confirmed that the meeting had been canceled indefinitely, with no reason given.
2 comments:
Tony, the reason that I was told for the meeting being canceled was due to the power outage at Conant School.
Mark Coen
Councilor-at-large
Mark if you believe that I have a bridge in Brooklyn I'd like you to look at!!!!!!!!
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