Open Meeting Law - Minutes/Enforcement/Final Thought

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Every meeting needs minutes. The open meeting law requires minutes to include the result of all votes, all motions (including those that fail), and the names of all persons participating in the meeting. Minutes must be available for review and copying within five days of the meeting, even if the board has not yet approved them. 1 V.S.A § 312 (b). Minutes are the permanent record of the board’s actions. They should be of interest to anyone planning to appear before a board with a proposal, to understand the board’s process and precedents. Copies are available through the clerk of the board. Those interested may review minutes of former meetings on request, and obtain copies at the actual photocopying cost.

7. Enforcement

Members of the public have rights to enforce violations of the law in superior court. The law provides that these courts must schedule hearings of such violations as soon as the docket allows it, allowing swift resolutions of disputes. Courts may fine the town or order the board to follow the law. The Attorney General is also authorized to prosecute violations. 1 V.S.A. § 314.

Prosecutions are rare in Vermont. When they happen, the media is quick to cover the story. People take open meetings seriously here.

The open meeting law should be enforced with the same spirit in which it is written. It is a guide to proper behavior by public officials. Sometimes boards make mistakes. Sometimes they forget (or never learned) the strictures of the law. In cases where the offense is unintentional, the best remedy is often to ensure that the board understands how the law works so that it does it right the next time.

8. Final Thought

Good government is open government. Open meetings beget open minds. Openness generates trust and fidelity to law. It gives people direct access to decision-making and provides a civil forum for public criticism and appreciation of the hard work of governance.

There is bound to be tension between efficiency and openness. Doing things in public is not the way most of us are used to conducting our business. New board members are always surprised at how it feels to do things as unguardedly as the open meeting law requires. Even members of the public are sometimes amazed at how much of government is open and available to them.

Don’t sit home and complain your government doesn’t represent you.
Go see it in action. It’s an education.