Maryland’s Office of the Attorney General has found that the Baltimore County Council did not violate the Open Meetings Act when it discussed the selection of a county executive during an unpublicized closed-door meeting.
The office’s Open Meetings Compliance Board says that the County Council was performing an “administrative function” January 3 when it was discussing the county executive, which means the act does not apply.
The board said it was administrative because the Council was administering an existing law, in this case its responsibility under the County Charter to fill a county executive vacancy.
The compliance board came to that conclusion although the County Council never claimed the meeting was “administrative.” Also, in a February 10 letter to the compliance board the council said it did violate the Open Meetings Act.
In a statement to WYPR, Council Chairman Mike Ertel, a Democrat, said that the council tried to make the selection of the county executive as inclusive as possible.
“It was disappointing to be accused of violating the Open Meetings Act after the efforts we had taken to keep the process an open one,” Ertel said.
The Open Meetings Act requires a public body to first give the public notice of a meeting, then convene in open session. At the meeting, the presiding officer must read aloud “a written statement of the reason for closing the meeting.”
WYPR and others filed complaints with the Open Meetings Compliance Board following the January 3 meeting.
Thomas Bostwick, the County Council’s legislative counsel, said the meeting was called because there was a snowstorm in the forecast that could postpone the County Council’s January 6 meeting. That was when the council originally planned to vote on a replacement for Johnny Olszewski, who was resigning to take a seat in Congress.
Bostwick has acknowledged there was no public notice of the January 3 meeting. Also, it was held virtually on a “private” WebEx, as opposed to a “public webinar.”
The January 6 meeting was postponed one day because of snow.
On the morning of January 7, the County Council put out a news release announcing it had picked Kathy Klausmeier as the next county executive hours before it was scheduled to take the official vote.
While the County Council did not violate the Open Meetings Act in its discussion about the county executive on January 3, the compliance board said there is nothing that would have precluded it from “inviting the public to attend the open portions.”
