Two Agenda Monty
by John Weckerle
The Town of Edgewood has scheduled a special Town Council meeting for Tuesday, August 19, 2008 (see agenda). A regular meeting is scheduled for the following day, August 20 (see agenda). At the special meeting, the Council will proceed immediately into closed session, and then return to discuss a number of items of potentially broad public interest. These include such topics as the location and budget for the municipal library, personnel issues, acquisition of a bridge, and “miscellaneous.”
“Miscellaneous?” Use of such a word on an agenda – which is intended to inform the public of the topics to be discussed – appears inappropriate, especially in the context of the “sunshine laws” that govern public disclosures in New Mexico.
Of special interest are the resolutions listed in the agenda – one for “Restriction of Gross Receipts Tax Derived from New Construction,” and one for “Budget Resolution.” Seeing such items on the agenda for a special meeting rather than the regular meeting raises questions regarding the reasons for such scheduling. One would expect that items of such obvious interest to the community would be discussed during a regular meeting, allowing for full disclosure and discussion before the widest segment of the public possible. Given the potential significance of the decisions to be made, it would seem appropriate to invite public comment before making decisions on these issues.
The proposed text of the resolution is not attached to the agenda, nor is it available on the Town’s web site. Neither are any of the resolutions passed by the Town Council In fact, the word “resolution” is not used on the site at all. Neither is the proposed agenda posted on the Town web site. This seems fundamentally at odds with the open government platform on which candidates ran – successfully – in the March election. What arises is the impression of a shadowy method of policy making: holding special meetings to enact resolutions at off-cycle Council meetings without publishing the proposed – or final – resolutions on which discussions are to be held. Where resolutions are to be discussed and acted upon, we strongly urge the Town to publish the draft in advance, and all final resolutions, on the Town web site.
4 Responses “Two Agenda Monty”
The town has a water rate case issue before the PRC. It has existed for some time and it is public knowledge and of public record. If the water rate case is the same rate case listed on the August 19th agenda, then there really should not be a reason to place it under closed session. If it is a new rate case of some kind then there should have been some open discussion of the issue prior to closing the session.
Judging from the last council meeting the real property purchase may be for a right-of-way purchase for one of Edgewood’s streets. If so, there seems to be little reason to close the session on such a purchase, since it is not likely that another buyer would attempt to jump in front of the town or even if such would occur, the seller/sellers are under no obligation to sell to such a buyer. In any event the town is constrained from paying more than fair market appraisal for the property, as well it should be.
So, why don’t we just “open” the door and turn on the light, before we purchase land that might come into the town’s possession by other means, i.e., a gifting or donation.
In both cases, they may be discussing tactical aspects of the issues about which they can’t afford (from a strategic standpoint) for the other party to know, at least in the rate case. As for the real estate item, I also don’t see the point – but it is legal for them to go into closed session to discuss it.
The Resolution for GRT was moved to the Sept. 3 Agenda at my request. I will make copies available after re-draft. Also there was no closed session, the PRC discussion was not appropriate for closed session and I ststed such at the meeting. The real estate issue was premature and no discussion followed. That being said the Council needs to be more dilligent in getting Agendas and items out more timely. The special meeting was called as a budget session. I will ask that future special meetings be limited to the stated purpose.
Thank you, Brad, both for addressing the situation at hand and for taking a proactive approach toward the issue. It’s gratifying to see your understanding of the situation and your willingness to work toward improving the process.