May 31, 1996

 

 

Mr. Mike Stiles
1909 Route 9
Clifton Park, NY 12065

The staff of the Committee on Open Government is authorized to issue advisory opinions. The ensuing staff advisory opinion is based solely upon the information presented in your correspondence.

Dear Mr. Stiles:

I have received your letter of May 9. You wrote that after a meeting of the Town of Halfmoon Zoning Board of Appeals, you "entered another room where a meeting was on who consisted of the Halfmoon Town Tax Assessor, Edwin Faulkner, two Sabre taxing people and the entire grievance board." Although you attempted to attend, you were informed by the Assessor that it was a private meeting and that you could not stay. You have sought a "determination" concerning the matter.

In this regard, the Committee on Open Government is authorized to provide opinions pertaining to the Open Meetings Law. As such, the following remarks should be considered advisory.

First, the Open Meetings Law applies to meetings of public bodies. Section 102(2) of that statute defines the phrase "public body" to mean:

"...any entity for which a quorum is required in order to conduct public business and which consists of two or more members, performing a governmental function for the state or for an agency or department thereof, or for a public corporation as defined in section sixty-six of the general construction law, or committee or subcommittee or other similar body of such public body." An assessment board of review in my view clearly constitutes a "public body" required to comply with the Open Meetings Law.

Second, the definition of "meeting" [see Open Meetings Law, §102(1)] has been broadly interpreted by the courts. In a landmark decision rendered in 1978, the Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, found that any gathering of a quorum of a public body for the purpose of conducting public business is a "meeting" that must be convened open to the public, whether or not there is an intent to take action and regardless of the manner in which a gathering may be characterized [see Orange County Publications v. Council of the City of Newburgh, 60 AD 2d 409, aff'd 45 NY 2d 947 (1978)].

I point out that the decision rendered by the Court of Appeals was precipitated by contentions made by public bodies that so-called "work sessions" and similar gatherings held for the purpose of discussion, but without an intent to take action, fell outside the scope of the Open Meetings Law. In discussing the issue, the Appellate Division, Second Department, which includes Westchester County and whose determination was unanimously affirmed by the Court of Appeals, stated that:

"We believe that the Legislature intended to include more than the mere formal act of voting or the formal execution of an official document. Every step of the decision-making process, including the decision itself, is a necessary preliminary to formal action. Formal acts have always been matters of public record and the public has always been made aware of how its officials have voted on an issue. There would be no need for this law if this was all the Legislature intended. Obviously, every thought, as well as every affirmative act of a public official as it relates to and is within the scope of one's official duties is a matter of public concern. It is the entire decision-making process that the Legislature intended to affect by the enactment of this statute" (60 AD 2d 409, 415).

The court also dealt with the characterization of meetings as "informal," stating that:

"The word 'formal' is defined merely as 'following or according with established form, custom, or rule' (Webster's Third New Int. Dictionary). We believe that it was inserted to safeguard the rights of members of a public body to engage in ordinary social transactions, but not to permit the use of this safeguard as a vehicle by which it precludes the application of the law to gatherings which have as their true purpose the discussion of the business of a public body" (id.).

Based upon the direction given by the courts, when a majority of a public body gathers to discuss public business, in their capacities as members of the body, any such gathering, in my opinion, would constitute a "meeting" subject to the Open Meetings Law.

It is noted, too, that it has also been held that a gathering of a quorum of a city council for the purpose of holding a "planned informal conference" involving a matter of public business constituted a meeting that fell within the scope of the Open Meetings Law, even though the council was asked to attend by a person who was not a member [Goodson-Todman v. Kingston Common Council, 153 AD 2d 103 (1990)]. Third, while meetings of public bodies generally must be conducted in public unless there is a basis for entry into executive session, following public proceedings conducted by boards of assessment review (i.e., public hearings held on "grievance day"), I believe that their deliberations could be characterized as "quasi-judicial proceedings" that would be exempt from the Open Meetings Law pursuant to §108(1) of that statute. However, it does not appear that the gathering in question was held to deliberate following a public hearing. If my assumption is accurate, the gathering was a meeting that should have been conducted open to the public in accordance with the requirements of the Open Meetings Law.

As you requested and in an effort to enhance compliance with and understanding of the Open Meetings Law, a copy of this opinion will be forwarded to the Assessment Board of Review.

I hope that I have been of assistance.

Sincerely,

 

Robert J. Freeman
Executive Director

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cc: Board of Assessment Review