In Part 4 we started to talk about Meetings – both those that Government MUST allow you to attend (RSA 91-A:2) called Open Meetings – and a bit of what a meeting ISN’T. The differences ARE important. You can’t go blasting into a “meeting” thinking your guns can be blazing when it is a different kind of a meeting. While Government has strictures placed upon it by this law (ergo, my constant admonition to Follow The Law), you as an attendee have the responsibility to know and respect the differences.
However, we only got through Clause I of the second Part of RSA 91-A. Let’s try to get through Clause II. Trust me, there’s a lot to parse here and as always, I’ll embolden those things I believe to be important. I’ll also separate the “different” topics embedded in this Clause (yup, another fisking).
First, we have the HOW of a meeting
II. Subject to the provisions of RSA 91-A:3, all meetings, whether held in person, by means of telephone or electronic communication, or in any other manner, shall be open to the public.
It used to be that “ya gotta be there to matter”. No more. I remember when attending by telephone became a “thing” decades ago (and it was overdue back then) as I was flying all over the country. I took my elected position seriously and I tried hard to not miss a meeting (although if I was on the West Coast, it was hard to attend a 6pm meeting here on the East Coast). But it did help even with the problems of the new-fangled speaker phones and jacking in the PA system (“try moving the mic over here to cut the feedback / echoing…”).
And with the WuFlu Pandemic, tech had evolved so that we could Zoom/Teams/GoToMeeting/<insert software name here> conference in. Sure, still server errors, Internet bandwidth, operator not paying attention to those wanting to speak – but it was yet another tool to attend when you couldn’t attend in person. Nowadays, its not a big deal and I’m glad to see that the Law as tried to keep pace with what technology can do to assist.
Next is a vital part to note and hold your elected/appointed officials feet to the fire:
Except for town meetings, school district meetings, and elections, no vote while in open session may be taken by secret ballot.
So officials, when a vote to take some action, MUST do so in a manner that the attendees can see how their elected representatives have voted.
Have a vacancy on your board or commission? Bring in the interested candidates, grill them in front of everyone, ask the questions, let them respond and ask questions in return. And when it is time to make a selection, you MUST do it publicly. Openness and transparency is paramount. After all, this Right To Know law is exactly that – YOUR right to know what is doing on your behalf (or in many cases, what is being done TO you).
Note the town/district meetings at the beginning. The “no vote” is a fence around your elected representatives to ensure you can see what they are doing as the “Public Body or Governing Body”. The “no vote” doesn’t apply to town/districts because it is YOU who are doing the voting (and in which you are called the “Legislative Body”.
SB2 type townfolk get to vote by secret ballot just like for State and Federal elections. However, for those that aren’t SB2 (it’s a NH dealiemabop) and hold the traditional Town Meeting, secret ballots can still be held. Yes, traditional town meetings, when a moderator calls for a vote, it can be a voice vote (who can yell the loudest), a hand-raised vote, or a stand-up vote (heh – “stand up to be counted!”). However, a secret ballot can also be done IF 5 (it has been awhile in my town – could be a few more) residents put forth a “petition” for a secret ballot vote and sign their names, a secret ballot MUST be used instead of the voice/hand/stand versions.
It is usually accompanied by groaning, specially if it starts to be the third, fourth, or more and the town has a larger crowd showing up.
The takeaway is that we Citizens can always vote in secret – public officials have to vote in public. How else to be able to hold them accountable later (e.g., Article 8 in the NH Constitution)?
Next – if someone tells you that you can’t record such a meeting – laugh at them and make sport of them. After all, they are either trying to pull the wool over your eyes or they don’t know the law. Or worse, don’t CARE about the law:
Any person shall be permitted to use recording devices, including, but not limited to, tape recorders, cameras, and videotape equipment, at such meetings.
I can tell you from personal experience that when public officials KNOW that they are being recorded, they act differently. While many won’t care, there are a few that DEPEND on the fact that people can’t hear what they say after the fact. Further, they may not want others, like you, to hear HOW they said it (i.e., screaming), what their body language is telling you, and more. Again, technology, when used correctly, can hold people more accountable than otherwise possible.
After all, this next part is the reason why what I just wrote is so important. I’m going to put the next part in bullets because it will make it easier to see the different mandates (instead of the regular text): MINUTES and NOTICES:
Minutes:
- Minutes of all such meetings, including nonpublic sessions, shall include the names of members, persons appearing before the public bodies, and a brief description of the subject matter discussed and final decisions.
- The names of the members who made or seconded each motion shall be recorded in the minutes.
- Subject to the provisions of RSA 91-A:3, minutes shall be promptly recorded and open to public inspection not more than 5 business days after the meeting, except as provided in RSA 91-A:6, and shall be treated as permanent records of any public body, or any subordinate body thereof, without exception.
SHALL is a must important word – it is an imperative as in THOU SHALT (or like Mom or Dad, in that special voice, saying “You WILL DO THIS”). There is no wiggle room – it is a mandate that must be fulfilled. And if they don’t (like when Gary Kiedaisch was the Secretary of the Gunstock Area Commission, a fair number of minutes went missing or have not been found) – a legally action could have been brought to bear.
Note that ANYONE taking part – either the elected representatives, any officials, members of the public, or government employees, or “special people” (like an expert who was asked to come in to help with a given situation or issue) MUST be listed in the meeting notes. After all, the operative word is accountability and if you don’t know who is going what, how can that be achieved?
And who ever the secretary is taking the notes/minutes had better be a quick “taker of notes” as well.
And #3 is important – the Public is entitled access to the minutes. Again, another “accountability” technique – is your recollection of the meeting the same as you see in print? Or better yet, does it match what a recording shows what happened.
I ALWAYS ask “Did you bring a videocamera to a meeting? Did you whip out your cell phone and fire it up? And that’s why, with very few exceptions, I bring our GraniteGrok equipment to such meetings. The reason?
The only thing worse that is disliked/hated more by those that like Dark Corners than being recorded is having it posted. That’s getting a bit diluted now but GraniteGrok was one of the first that did exactly that – record and post epecially when it wasn’t that easy back then. And we learned that people did. not. like. it. Tough nuggies. It’s a public meeting and you don’t have a choice.
While many committees, board, and commissions are self-recording (a good thing), one always have to be aware of any editing has been done. That’s why I still bring my own equipment.
NOTICES:
Except in an emergency or when there is a meeting of a legislative committee, a notice of the time and place of each such meeting, including a nonpublic session, shall be posted in 2 appropriate places one of which may be the public body’s Internet website, if such exists, or shall be printed in a newspaper of general circulation in the city or town at least 24 hours, excluding Sundays and legal holidays, prior to such meetings.
A public meeting isn’t so public if no one knows about it. And note that the WHEN it must be business days – not just consecutive days regardless of the time of a week. Normally such a notice also includes the WHY the meeting is being called – the Agenda or Purpose.
That last bit is NOT required, however. In talking with a new State Rep concerning RSA 91-A the last few days, I learned that not all subdivisions of the State (in this case, a Town) does so. They’ll call and notice a meeting but consistently at the last possible moment. And then they won’t publish their agenda until just before the meeting (or just handouts at the door).
Thus, they intentionally waste their citizens valuable in having them come to a meeting only to find out that nothing they are interested in is on the agenda. Seems like a correction to that practice is needed!
And here’s the part that got NH State Rep Harry Bean, former NH State Rep Gregg Hough, and current Belknap County Attorney Andrew Livernois into trouble as they tried to do a mashup of RSA 91-A and RSA 24:9D to get the political action they wanted – and broke the law in the case of the first two and couldn’t bother to correctly state what the laws are in calling a meeting:
An emergency shall mean a situation where immediate undelayed action is deemed to be imperative by the chairman or presiding officer of the public body, who shall post a notice of the time and place of such meeting as soon as practicable, and shall employ whatever further means are reasonably available to inform the public that a meeting is to be held. The minutes of the meeting shall clearly spell out the need for the emergency meeting.
When a meeting of a legislative committee is held, publication made pursuant to the rules of the house of representatives or the senate, whichever rules are appropriate, shall be sufficient notice. If the charter of any city or town or guidelines or rules of order of any public body require a broader public access to official meetings and records than herein described, such charter provisions or guidelines or rules of order shall take precedence over the requirements of this chapter. For the purposes of this paragraph, a business day means the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday through Friday, excluding national and state holidays.
It was the first part that they completely botched – and didn’t care. Trust, much? Certainly not me as I pointed out their failures but go to the links as I’m not going to rehash it here. While there are regular strictures on the public notice time (24 hours) that must be given, when there is a real emergency (like a natural disaster wiping out roads, power, public buildings going up in flames, et al), a meeting can be held quickly (what seems to be a “political emergency” doesn’t fit the bill as what Gunstock was claimed to be).
But note that ONLY the head honcho, be it the Chair or “presiding officer”, can call the emergency meeting. Not just anyone in the public NOR anyone else on such a committee/board/commission.
OK, long again but there’s the Law and if you aren’t familiar with it, or the specific terms therein, a bit of explanation is needed. Again, I’m not a lawyer, don’t profess to be one, I’m not admitted to the NH (or anywhere else) BAR, but I do read a lot of State Statutes. However, I do read them as the engineer/political blogger that I am, so feel free to take me with grains of salt.
Previous Posts:
- Part 1 – What is the Purpose of a Right To Know demand?
- Part 2 – Why is it Constitutional?
- Part 3 – What are the Terms (Definitions)?
- Part 4 – OK, there are Meetings and then there are Meetings…
And ancillaries:
- RTK Ombudsman Update: An Example of “Government” Workers Making Life Harder for the Citizens That Own “It”
- A Discussion with the new Right To Know Ombudsman, Tom Kehr
