Opine Monkey is still out of country and has asked me to pen this week’s column. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Political Monkey.

Recently I’ve seen some hate on social media aimed at this publication. I’ve also noticed a common denominator in the origin of said hate, which I will keep to myself for the time being.

In reference to “Public Meetings” and “Illegal Public Meetings” let me paste the following…

The public must be given full access to all open meetings and may make video and audio recordings of all open meetings.

In addition to mandating open meetings, the Law requires that agencies provide notice to the public in advance of all meetings, even emergency meetings. That means agencies must make information available to the general public by, in the case of regular meetings, posting at least one week in advance a notice containing the information in a conspicuous location at the agency’s regular meeting place and on its website if the agency has one. The notice must do more than simply meet the technical requirements of the Law. It must be sufficient to reasonably apprise a concerned party of an upcoming meeting and must not be misleading.

Special or emergency meetings that are not held at the regularly posted time and place require more rigorous notice procedures. Such notice includes the posting at least 24 hours in advance at the regular meeting place and oral notification to the newspaper which serves as the legal organ for the county. In counties where the legal organ is published less than four times a week, notice also must be given to any local media outlets that make a written request to be so notified. Such outlets must be notified at least 24 hours in advance of the called meeting. In those rare circumstances where a meeting must be held upon less than 24 hours’ notice, either the county’s legal organ or a newspaper having a circulation at least as high as that of the legal organ must be notified, as well as other media that have requested to be notified by the agency.

Prior to all meetings, including emergency meetings, the agency holding such meetings must make an agenda of all matters expected to be considered available upon request and must post the agenda at the meeting site as far in advance as possible within two weeks prior to the meeting. Items not on the agenda may be considered at a meeting where it becomes “necessary” to do so and such items were not anticipated in advance and deliberately omitted from the agenda.

Minutes of all public meetings must be kept in writing and made available to the public for inspection no later than immediately following the next regular agency meeting. Such minutes must contain, at a minimum, the names of the members present at the meeting, a description of each motion or other proposal made, the identity of the individuals making and seconding the motion or other proposal and a record of all votes. These minutes are subject to the Open Records Law after approval, unless voluntarily released before approval. A summary of the meeting also must be provided by the agency within two business days.

Penalties for Non-Compliance
All actions taken during a meeting closed in violation of the Law are void and can be set aside by a court if challenged within ninety days of discovery. Anyone who “knowingly and willfully” conducts or participates in a meeting without complying with every part of the Law is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not in excess of $1,000.00. Alternatively, a court may impose a civil penalty not to exceed $1,000.00 against anyone who negligently conducts or participates in a meeting without complying with the Law. The court also may impose a criminal fine or civil penalty not in excess of $2,500.00 for each additional violation committed within a year of the first violation.

Additionally, public officials who participate in closed meetings in violation of the Law can be subject to recall. Moreover, failure to give adequate notice can result in the invalidation of the proceedings, the issuance of legal injunctions and the requirement to pay the objecting party’s legal costs. In addition, the Attorney General may bring a civil or criminal action to enforce compliance with the Law. As with the Open Records Law, a government agency may be liable for the attorney’s fees of a party who brings a lawsuit to require compliance with the Law if that agency has acted without substantial justification.

Let me be clear, I’m not saying that illegal meetings have or are taking place. I’m just stating the Georgia Sunshine Laws concerning public meetings.

What would be outstanding is if more of the public would take the time to attend such meetings. Especially when those that you have elected are having the meetings and are spending your tax dollars.

I think more people should request to see the operational budgets of all governmental agencies. It might be interesting to see exactly how, where and with whom your tax dollars are being spent.

Is it a bad thing to demand good stewardship and accountability when the politicians are spending our money?

If everything is on the up-and-up then there should be no issue with being as transparent as is required by law.

Some of you may be asking yourself, “Why did Political Monkey paste the Georgia Sunshine Law?” Because “ignorance of the law” is no excuse.

In my 27+ years in the media business I have seen local politicians get into some expensive trouble due to discussing official business at unofficial venues with only a select few of those board members that should have be in attendance.
They were fined and recalled, as is required by law.

So don’t get caught up in a good-ole boy-network game, keep it legal, keep it public and keep it transparent. Your constituents demand it.

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