Ronan city councilman proposes executive session changes
Megan Strickland
Two notices hung on Ronan City Hall’s doors in August that prompted the Valley Journal to ask questions about the legality of the Ronan City Council’s executive sessions. After a lawsuit in October prompted similar questions about how executive sessions are held, a Ronan city councilman has proposed instituting a code of ethics for the meetings.
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RONAN – A Ronan city councilmember suggested Nov. 17 that the City of Ronan implement an ethics policy to provide consequences for violating the terms of executive session.
The suggestion is the latest in an ongoing list of concerns aired by current and past employees and city councilmembers about the council’s treatment of executive sessions in the past two years.
“We’ve had some issues with leaks of information from executive session,” Councilmember Roger Romero said. “A lot of cities have policies in place to address those things. They are anywhere from a $100 fine, to jail time to recall.”
Romero said he couldn’t find any city councils in Montana that have codes of ethics with consequences for breaking the confidentially of executive session, but he did find them in other states. Mayor Kim Aipperspach instructed City Clerk Kaylene Melton to research if other Montana towns and cities have similar policies in place.
Romero said he didn’t think the consequences for spilling the beans about what happened in executive session should be so severe as to include jail time, but that there should be some form of punishment for the crime. The rest of the council didn’t weigh in on the issue.
Who is allowed in executive session and if the city has skirted the rules in the past has been a recurrent question posed in meetings in the past couple of years, with the most recent allegation that the city council violated public meetings laws arising in October, when former Police Chief John Mitchell filed a lawsuit against the City of Ronan.
In the lawsuit, Mitchell’s attorneys claimed that an executive session meeting was held to terminate his employment on Sept. 8, though no notice of the meeting was ever posted. Mitchell claims he found out about it from an unnamed city official.
“It is not known what was discussed in this September meeting, nor is it known whether testimony or statements were taken because Mr. Mitchell is without record of any such meeting,” the lawsuit alleges. “It is further unknown what other topics that affect the City were brought up or how often this occurs.”
City officials have refused to comment on whether or not the allegation is true.
The alleged Mitchell meeting came a few weeks after an August 25 incident where the city held a meeting, went into executive session, and wrote “continued until called back,” on the agenda, which included an agenda item to hire the new police chief and discuss personnel matters. When a Valley Journal reporter called to ask what that meant, the mayor said it meant the council was essentially walking around in executive session. He said the city “might” post an agenda to let the public know when the meeting would reconvene.
The Valley Journal made contact with Daniel Clark, director of the Montana State University Local Government Center in Bozeman. He called the situation “concerning,” and suggested the reporter seek legal advice from attorney Mike Melloy who works for the Montana Freedom of Information Hotline. Melloy said the council’s behavior wasn’t kosher.
“The council may close a meeting to discuss hiring a new police chief,” Melloy said in an email. “Then, the decision to hire must be made in open session. Finally the council has to give reasonable notice of the ‘reconvening’ of the meeting just as if it were a new meeting. The old notice doesn’t carry forward.”
Within two hours of the reporter questioning the mayor about the legality of walking around in open session, the city had posted a new agenda, setting a meeting for Aug. 29 at 9:15 a.m. The mayor refused to say whether or not the council members were walking around in executive session until then.
The mayor has also previously declined to comment about whether or not notes are kept about what happens in executive session. City Clerk Kaylene Melton began urging the council to keep a record of minutes for executive session meetings in May, after she was excluded from the meetings.
Since summer, Melton has read a statement before each executive session she’s not been allowed to attend. The statement she reads reminds councilmembers that notes should be kept in executive session.
Clark said the MSU Local Government Center recommends the clerk be present, and if not, notes be taken and kept under lock and key so they can be accessed only in case of lawsuit.
Whether or not meeting notes are kept is a mystery that will stay privy to only those who are in executive session, Aipperspach said.
