That lead me to inquire with an assistant city attorney about making the results of the closed session votes public, but while waiting to hear, I checked the state statutes and it does seem, indeed, as if votes taken on the attorney's employment should have been made in public session. From the governing statute:
"Final action making an appointment or discharge or removal by a public body having final authority for the appointment or discharge or removal shall be taken in an open meeting."That makes sense, especially in this case. Working at the discretion of City Council, the city attorney essentially works for us, the public. We should, therefore, have every expectation that we know how our representatives voted in acting to keep or remove that employee. Whether or not the city attorney ultimately decided to resign, as he did, it seems to me the statute requires that the votes to remove him prior should be made public.
I am concerned that I may have violated Mujeeb's right to privacy by disclosing an employment-related matter.
ReplyDeleteApparently not, according to your post.
There are certain things state law mandates be made public regarding personnel. They are few, but the vote tally for the hiring or firing of an employee in the direct employ of a public body does seem to be one of them.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to hear what the assistant city attorney has to say.
The fact is that Mujeeb is a smart lawyer, he knows the law and let council do it. I don't think Mujeeb was alone or acted just with Roth on this loan issue. There is more to the story and when or if Mujeeb sues, more facts will come out.
ReplyDeleteI ment to say Mujeeb knows the law and let council have the closed session to fire him, good move on his part.
ReplyDeleteRoch, the answer is contained in the statute you referenced "FINAL action...". He was not fired. He resigned. No vote is required to accept a resignation. We did vote in open session to modify his contract, which is required by statute. Since this is a personnel issue I cannot comment further.
ReplyDeleteNancy Vaughan
If he resigned after a vote to fire him, I'm not sure that doesn't mean that vote shouldn't have been taken in public, I would think.
ReplyDeleteWow, the Mayor can read and write but still my questions go unanswered-- why?
ReplyDelete