MONROE - Two debates involving the public's right to know are now cooking at Monroe's City Hall.
One will be played out in Green County Circuit Court, where a case is pending against the city's Salary and Personnel Committee for an alleged open meeting violation on Sept. 10, 2013. District Attorney Gary Luhman, who filed the complaint Feb. 6, contends the city did not give proper public notice when committee members went beyond the scope of a closed session, which was published as "Preliminary Consideration Of Employee Issues Addressed by Utilities Director," to take official action for dismissing the director.
The other debate is happening in the Common Council chambers. City aldermen are at odds about how much and what kind of information they can discuss outside of public meetings and closed session, and when, if ever, they can share it.
At a meeting Monday, the Judiciary and Ordinance Review Committee discussed revising the Code of Ethics to include wording that would prohibit officials from disclosing any information that was discussed, debated or acted upon in a closed session. City Attorney Rex Ewald was directed to write up the proposed addition for consideration at the committee's next meeting, expected to be June 16.
A change to the code will need a public hearing before passage by the Common Council.
The committee followed Ewald's recommendations not to make the wording too specific, but rather to allow the Board of Ethics to act as a "filter" for the cases that come before it. The Ethics Board membership was restructured this spring to consist of members of the public, replacing elected officials and city staff.
Defining what constitutes "confidential information," just as defining a "good person," is nearly impossible, Ewald added, because the ethics involved rely on a judgment call.
State open meeting laws allow government bodies to discuss certain matters, including employment issues and contract negotiations, in closed session. Alderman Charles Koch noted that prohibitive language about disclosure of information from closed sessions is not found in the state statutes, and Ewald confirmed that the state open meeting laws do not address disclosure.
City Administrator Phil Rath said personnel issues, however, are a particular subject that should never be leaked from a closed session.
Confidential versus public rights
The catalyst for the proposed city code changes comes out of Alderman Brooke Bauman's concerns that alders in the past several months have twice, to her knowledge, spoken to members of the public or press about what she called "confidential information."
Bauman is president of the Common Council and chairman of the Salary and Personnel Committee.
She presented her concerns and proposed changes to the city's ethic code in a statement she read May 20 at a council meeting.
Bauman referenced the leaks, specifically, as a statement made by the city's attorney during a Common Council closed session regarding upholding the Salary and Personnel Committee's decision to fire the utility director, and as information about the city's possible negotiations to purchase property.
"Just recently, a committee meeting had to be canceled due to an alder discussing confidential information regarding the city that was to be discussed," Bauman stated.
Alderman Michael Boyce responded with his own statement at the May 20 council meeting. He supported adding language to the city's ethics code about disclosing privileged and confidential information, "as long as it is balanced to protect the public's right to know, and provides whistleblower protections.
"A representative government is dependent on an informed electorate. All persons are entitled to the most information possible regarding the affairs of government and the action of public officers and employees, and that only in most exceptional cases may access to information be denied," he stated.
Possible
negotiations leak
The canceled meeting, scheduled for May 12 for the Public Property Committee, was, according to its agenda, for the purpose of considering a "possible offer to purchase lumber yard property adjacent to City of Monroe Police employee parking lot" for future development. The agenda offered the committee the ability to go into closed session to "discuss terms of possible offer to purchase lumbar (sic) yard property and negotiating strategy."
The agenda had been released to the public by 2:15 p.m. May 9, but the meeting was canceled by 2:12 p.m. May 12.
Mayor Bill Ross confirmed May 29 that he had the meeting postponed, following his concern that neither he nor Rath knew anything about an offer to purchase property.
Ross also said he was contacted by a member of the public regarding someone from the city talking about the purchase offer prior to the committee meeting. Ross would not disclose the names of either of those two individuals.
Boyce said he asked for the committee meeting to present his idea for the commercial property, as noted in the agenda items. He also said he does not know to which alderman Bauman was referring in her statement May 20, nor did he ask her.
Bauman also declined to reveal the name of that alderman to the Times.
The property in question, about one-half acre in the 1900 block of 12th Street, has been tied up in a civil court case, with no less than three local attorneys hashing out the financial settlements and leftover loan obligations following the 2010 death of one of New Glarus Lumber's business partners and property owners.
The property is assessed at $190,100 total, and carries $20,300 in unpaid taxes, interest and penalties going back to 2011, according to the Green County land records system.
According to the case file in Green County Circuit Court, a loan balance remains with the Woodford State Bank for more than $400,000.
The court has given the attorneys in the case, Chuck Wellington for the bank, Greg Knoke for the surviving heir, and Craig Nolan and Rex Ewald for the remaining business partner, time "to see if we are able to come up with a full resolution," according to Knoke in a case file document dated May 7.
Once scheduled for a jury trial in November, the case was removed from the court calendar in July 2013, requested by Knoke.
A sale of the property appears to have been in the works by Feb. 4, 2014.
However, court records of a documented telephone conference call in mid-March show that a deal "fell through" on a possible purchaser of the property. In the same call, Knoke relayed to Wellington, "City of Monroe is now expressing interest but city hall will need to propose this at a meeting this week."
No such matter was scheduled for the Public Property Committee prior to May 12.
One will be played out in Green County Circuit Court, where a case is pending against the city's Salary and Personnel Committee for an alleged open meeting violation on Sept. 10, 2013. District Attorney Gary Luhman, who filed the complaint Feb. 6, contends the city did not give proper public notice when committee members went beyond the scope of a closed session, which was published as "Preliminary Consideration Of Employee Issues Addressed by Utilities Director," to take official action for dismissing the director.
The other debate is happening in the Common Council chambers. City aldermen are at odds about how much and what kind of information they can discuss outside of public meetings and closed session, and when, if ever, they can share it.
At a meeting Monday, the Judiciary and Ordinance Review Committee discussed revising the Code of Ethics to include wording that would prohibit officials from disclosing any information that was discussed, debated or acted upon in a closed session. City Attorney Rex Ewald was directed to write up the proposed addition for consideration at the committee's next meeting, expected to be June 16.
A change to the code will need a public hearing before passage by the Common Council.
The committee followed Ewald's recommendations not to make the wording too specific, but rather to allow the Board of Ethics to act as a "filter" for the cases that come before it. The Ethics Board membership was restructured this spring to consist of members of the public, replacing elected officials and city staff.
Defining what constitutes "confidential information," just as defining a "good person," is nearly impossible, Ewald added, because the ethics involved rely on a judgment call.
State open meeting laws allow government bodies to discuss certain matters, including employment issues and contract negotiations, in closed session. Alderman Charles Koch noted that prohibitive language about disclosure of information from closed sessions is not found in the state statutes, and Ewald confirmed that the state open meeting laws do not address disclosure.
City Administrator Phil Rath said personnel issues, however, are a particular subject that should never be leaked from a closed session.
Confidential versus public rights
The catalyst for the proposed city code changes comes out of Alderman Brooke Bauman's concerns that alders in the past several months have twice, to her knowledge, spoken to members of the public or press about what she called "confidential information."
Bauman is president of the Common Council and chairman of the Salary and Personnel Committee.
She presented her concerns and proposed changes to the city's ethic code in a statement she read May 20 at a council meeting.
Bauman referenced the leaks, specifically, as a statement made by the city's attorney during a Common Council closed session regarding upholding the Salary and Personnel Committee's decision to fire the utility director, and as information about the city's possible negotiations to purchase property.
"Just recently, a committee meeting had to be canceled due to an alder discussing confidential information regarding the city that was to be discussed," Bauman stated.
Alderman Michael Boyce responded with his own statement at the May 20 council meeting. He supported adding language to the city's ethics code about disclosing privileged and confidential information, "as long as it is balanced to protect the public's right to know, and provides whistleblower protections.
"A representative government is dependent on an informed electorate. All persons are entitled to the most information possible regarding the affairs of government and the action of public officers and employees, and that only in most exceptional cases may access to information be denied," he stated.
Possible
negotiations leak
The canceled meeting, scheduled for May 12 for the Public Property Committee, was, according to its agenda, for the purpose of considering a "possible offer to purchase lumber yard property adjacent to City of Monroe Police employee parking lot" for future development. The agenda offered the committee the ability to go into closed session to "discuss terms of possible offer to purchase lumbar (sic) yard property and negotiating strategy."
The agenda had been released to the public by 2:15 p.m. May 9, but the meeting was canceled by 2:12 p.m. May 12.
Mayor Bill Ross confirmed May 29 that he had the meeting postponed, following his concern that neither he nor Rath knew anything about an offer to purchase property.
Ross also said he was contacted by a member of the public regarding someone from the city talking about the purchase offer prior to the committee meeting. Ross would not disclose the names of either of those two individuals.
Boyce said he asked for the committee meeting to present his idea for the commercial property, as noted in the agenda items. He also said he does not know to which alderman Bauman was referring in her statement May 20, nor did he ask her.
Bauman also declined to reveal the name of that alderman to the Times.
The property in question, about one-half acre in the 1900 block of 12th Street, has been tied up in a civil court case, with no less than three local attorneys hashing out the financial settlements and leftover loan obligations following the 2010 death of one of New Glarus Lumber's business partners and property owners.
The property is assessed at $190,100 total, and carries $20,300 in unpaid taxes, interest and penalties going back to 2011, according to the Green County land records system.
According to the case file in Green County Circuit Court, a loan balance remains with the Woodford State Bank for more than $400,000.
The court has given the attorneys in the case, Chuck Wellington for the bank, Greg Knoke for the surviving heir, and Craig Nolan and Rex Ewald for the remaining business partner, time "to see if we are able to come up with a full resolution," according to Knoke in a case file document dated May 7.
Once scheduled for a jury trial in November, the case was removed from the court calendar in July 2013, requested by Knoke.
A sale of the property appears to have been in the works by Feb. 4, 2014.
However, court records of a documented telephone conference call in mid-March show that a deal "fell through" on a possible purchaser of the property. In the same call, Knoke relayed to Wellington, "City of Monroe is now expressing interest but city hall will need to propose this at a meeting this week."
No such matter was scheduled for the Public Property Committee prior to May 12.