County Attorney Joe Shepard
County Supervisor Raymon Rowell
County Supervisor Johnny Glen Stringer
By Josh Mitchell/Informer Publisher
The Marion County Board of Supervisors may have violated the state Open Meetings Law this morning by not giving proper public notice of a meeting.
According to the Open Meetings Law, public bodies are required to give notice of their meetings. The “place, date, hour and subject matter” of the meeting shall be posted within one of hour of the meeting being called, the law states. Notice of the meeting should be posted “in a prominent place available to examination and inspection by the general public in the building in which the public body normally meets,” the law adds.
County Supervisor Randy Dyess
County Supervisor Lloyd Fortenberry
No such notice was posted for the Marion County Board of Supervisors meeting held this morning.
According to County Attorney Joe Shepard, posting a notice of the meeting was not required because the Board of Supervisors is still in session for this month. It is set forth in the minutes that the Board of Supervisors is in session for 10 business days each month, beginning on the first Monday, said Shepard. During the 10-day period that the Board is in session, meetings can be held without posting notice, according to Shepard.
County Supervisor Raymon Rowell also does not think public notice was required because the Board was still in session for the month. “”I think we can meet anytime during session without giving public notice,” said Rowell.
The Marion County Informer has left messages with the State Ethics Commission and the Mississippi Center for Freedom of Information to determine if the Board can meet anytime it wishes while in session or if notice of each meeting is required.
Other supervisors present at the meeting included Randy Dyess, Lloyd Fortenberry and Johnny Glen Stringer. Dyess was unsure if public notice was required, saying, “All I know is we’re in session for two weeks.”
Fortenberry and Stringer could not be reached for comment after the meeting.
In the meeting, the Board of Supervisors went into a closed session to discuss a personnel matter regarding fired jail employee Ettie Faye Ervin. The board also voted to make an interest payment on Marion General Hospital in the amount of $4,183.
The Marion County Informer found out about the meeting through an anonymous tip.
Oh for the love of God. This is a clear violation of the open meetings intent, if not the actual letter of the law. Vote them all out just on the basis of ignorance. Just saying.
Even though it may be known(by a few) that the “Board of Supervisors is in session for 10 business days each month, beginning on the first Monday…”,
how would any citizen know when to attend if there isn’t any notice given? Don’t citizens have the right to attend and hear about issues that concern them? This bunch of chuckleheads seem to believe that they can do as they please, make up the rules as they go along, and expect everyone else to remain mute as the public contributes their salaries. Without excellence, what is there?And we certainly appear to have none in the city’s governing body.Whatever the law is or is not concerning this issue, anyone with reasoning abilities knows that the only way the public can attend or be a part, is to have notice of meetings.Anything else makes it appear(whether there is or not?) that that there is something to hide.
This is rediculus. Even if the board would have posted a notice would you or the informer have actually seen it. The only solution would have been to several hundred dollars and have a billboard painted in front of walmart then the board could have just hoped you that everyone passed by and read it. And honestly does it really matter if it was announced??? They went in closed session legally! Even if I personally called everyone in Marion County you still wouldn’t know what was said. Let the elected officials do what the majority elected them to do.
No one is asking for an expensive billboard-just the public announcement.Yes, it does matter that it be announced. Just because it does not matter to you, does not mean it does not matter to others.I don’t recall annointing you as the one to make decisions for what is important to me.Thankfully, legal rules are not based on what you think is important. They are based on what is important to the general public.Don’t assume to know what I or others would know if you personally called. You have to try it first before you would know the end result and you have no idea what I or others think.That is sort of like saying, “hey, I would have invited you to the party, but I knew that you did not want to attend.”Just because they were elected by a majority does not mean they are doing the will of the majority. This may be something you choose to believe-but it doesn’t make it a truth.
I think it would be good if the Board would change their meeting until alfter working hours so the working people counld attend. Remember the working class is the ones that pay the bills. Most people can’t take time off work to go to the meetings.
That is an excellent suggestion, however, that means that the BOS would have to deal with the citizens that elected them. You must remember they only have 10 days to do what they were elected to do. But, then again, they could be like the Board of Education and go into “executive Session” whenever they feel like it so as not to let the attending public know what is going on.
Would have been a waste in this case because the meeting was in closed session, meaning they discussed matters with the public not being permitted to participate.
Personally, I believe that Josh is just upset because he missed a meeting. As long as this meeting was held within the 10 days, then it was done correctly. If you keep up with the column, then you will realize that Josh tries not to miss a single board meeting, which does not allow the county to discuss topics without him being present.
Dear Next Door Neighbor:
The Marion County Informer did not miss the meeting as you stated in your comment. The Informer learned about the meeting through an anonymous tip and was present.
Sincerely,
Josh Mitchell
Informer Publisher
What wrong Next Door Neighbor? Are you afraid of having an open meeting and just what the public may learn due to Josh’s reporting skills?
People like you make me want to throw-up! You, and others like you, act as if the “powers-that-be” in Columbia and Marion County have a dominion where CITIZENS do not have the right to participate! You act as if there is a Top Secret Agency employed here to protect National Secrets and with Josh present at meetings they can not discuss some vital issues of the Nation!
I believe that Josh has provided an insight into many areas of local government most citizens never cared to participate in the past. You know the ones who had no idea who that person was running for office. Yet, they “just picked somebody” so they could say they voted! OR, they gave that person their vote because they know the family.
Well guess what? People are sitting up paying attention now Neighbor! Citizens are realizing those that hold office do not represent what they thought they did!
I do NOT believe there will be too many more elections before both the Mayor, Columbia Board of Aldermen, and Marion County Board of Supervisors are replaced by people that intend on “doing the job” that they “stumped-promised” instead of providing favors for votes!
Another thing, I believe all of the current board members are doing a great job. Don’t judge someone’s job until you have sat in their shoes. It’s easy to sit back and complain, but you don’t realize how much responsibility they have.
The board has a responsibility to be transparent. Holding meetings and not letting the public know the exact time and location of the meeting does not meet my personal definition of transparency. The old “that’s the way we’ve always done it” doesn’t cut it with me.
you say dont judge.
*what are you doing !!
~~
the above comment is to Next Door Neighbor ‘ONLY’
Sounds familiar…..oh yeah Washington.
Sounds like the Marion County Supervisors are taking lessons from The Prez and his gang…..vote them all out and change up things…
thats it Stanley H.
* *VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE. *Lets reVote to see ??