By Josh Mitchell/Informer Publisher
The Mississippi Ethics Commission has been asked to step in and help determine whether the Marion County Board of Supervisors violated the state Open Meetings Act last week.
The Marion County Informer this afternoon filed a formal Open Meetings Complaint with the Ethics Commission regarding the Board of Supervisors meeting that was held June 17. There was apparently no formal public notice of the meeting, which the Marion County Informer believes could be a violation of the Open Meetings Act.
To read a copy of the complaint that the Informer filed with the Ethics Commission click here: Complaint Page 1 Complaint Page 2
Marion County Board of Supervisors Attorney Joe Shepard has said that posting a notice of last week’s meeting was not required because the Board was still in session. Shepard said the Board is in session for 10 business days each month, beginning on the first Monday, and during that time period the supervisors can meet without posting notice.
Even though the Board of Supervisors was still in session, the Marion County Informer believes that posting public notice of meetings may still be required under the law.
The Open Meetings Act states, “Any public body which holds its meetings at such times and places and by such procedures as are specifically prescribed by statute shall continue to do so and no additional notice of such meetings shall be required except that a notice of the place, date, hour and subject matter of any recess meeting, adjourned meeting, interim meeting or any called special meeting shall be posted within one (1) hour after such meeting is called in a prominent place available to examination and inspection by the general public in the building in which the public body normally meets. A copy of the notice shall be made a part of the minutes or other permanent official records of the public body.”
The Ethics Commission will forward a copy of the Informer’s complaint to Marion County Board of Supervisors President Calvin Newsom. The Board of Supervisors will then have 14 days from the receipt of the complaint to file a response with the Ethics Commission. After receiving the supervisors’ response or, if no response is received after 14 days, the Ethics Commission may dismiss the complaint or set a hearing.
To read the initial story the Informer wrote about the potential Open Meetings Law violation click here: http://bit.ly/aPxelR
Josh you must not have enought to do. The other offices can go into closed session whenever they want to. So what is the big deal. You need to get a life and quit stirring _ _ i t
What offices are you referring to when you say they can go into closed session anytime they want to?
You need to read up on MS law pertaining to public body meetings. Laws are specific in what a public body can go into closed session on. When they come out of a closed session, they have to reveal in the public forum what was decided.
The main gripe in this article is announcing the time, place, and reason for the meeting to give any concerned citizen the chance to attend the meetings.
Since you askes, the Marion County Board of Education has been known to go into “closed” or “executive” session anytime they felt that there was a threat of questions or comments from the audience. They have also been known to adjourn from the “executive” session with the audience waiting outside the meeting room to hear the outcome and witness the remainder of the meeting.
To tuned in:
If in fact what you described is happening, the board is in violation of the law.
Ultimately, if noone complains or files a grievance with the proper authority, nothing will ever be done.
This has “IN FACT” happened in the past. The board was in violation of the law. Just who is the proper authority that you must complain to or file a grievance with? I have contacted the State Department and the Ethics Board. Their response has been, “Get yourself a lawyer”. I do agree with you, though, if no one at least tries, nothing will ever get done.
Good thing that our forefathers had the backbone to stir up_ _it.
There would not even be a country called America if they had not done so.In a democracy, stirring it up is how things change for the better. If no one is doing anything wrong, then what is there to worry about by supervisors?
Part of the “big deal” is that many of these people have been elected “by the people” to do an honest job “for the people.” Under the table deals , hiring friends and family and closed door sessions are not what the people want. They want honesty and integrity. If you cannot understand that,maybe you are the one that needs to get a life and wake up to what is going on around you.
I must say, there needs to be more investigations into the dealings of Marion County School Districts’ practices. Principals should not be told by the people in power that they have a job before that same job has been posted. Then the “powers” try to cover it up by having interviews. hahaha….do they think people are stupid??? Oh well.. the truth will always come out in the end. And you can’t cover it up from God!
I say great job, Josh, for investigating something. This school board needs to wake up!
Did you happen to read this article? What in the world does your post have to do with the Board of Supervisors? Please keep your posts relevant to the article. Also, I don’t think God should be mentioned in a post that is irrelevant and gossip. Thankfully God has a sense of humor and will probably get a kick out of someone mentioning “covering it up from God,” but then deciding to remain anonymous.
Josh, Thank you for the article and all of your hard work. I appreciate you letting us post opinions and questions about your articles. I just hope in the future people will read the article before they post. Especially someone that refers to themselves as an “Educator.”
Open meetings are necessary to keep public officials honest. The Board of Supervisors may not have been trying to hide anything during this meeting, but no one would know unless the public including media outlets are not notified of meeting. I think the Board of Supervisors should be taking extra steps to let the public know what is doing for them. This may mean calling the local newspapers and telling them every time they meet, not just posting a notice outside the boardroom. Perhaps they should also publish their minutes to a website for public viewing, like other counties around the state. Thanks Josh for having the courage to challenge the “good ole boy” system.
All W/You Really.
JoSH M. has it right.
& If You Can’t Handle The HEAT,GET OUT.
~~~
Joey– so you want the politics to just go on and not worry what is happening? Thats the problem in this county. Plenty of stuff needs to be stirred and start getting people who will do their jobs right and especially with our children they are the future you keep throwing them down the drain for someone else to stuff their pockets this county will be dead very quickly.
If the board is correct in holding the meeting, is Josh going to make a public “I’M SORRY?” There is so much other stuff going on in the county to report on than to pounce on the board of supervisors and other officials. Maybe they need to fight this by finding a statute on how to legally ask someone to not attend the meetings. The informer has some good points but should quit trying to find the negative and find the positive.
To really: minutes are part of public record.
Fedup:
You sure did jump on the “Josh is wrong and the Officials are right” band wagon pretty fast! Guess what? If the Officials do NOT want to deal with the public in these meeting, there is a sure fire cure for that such as: DO NOT be a PUBLIC OFFICIAL if you DO NOT want to WORK for the PUBLIC!
In the not-so-distant past, the citizens of Columbia/Marion County have NOT been truly involved in the “business” of these PUBLIC meetings, but, that was due to being unaware of their importance. Josh has now brought the importance of these PUBLIC meeting to the fore-front and people are waking up and realizing that the “business” being discussed IS their business.
Attitudes such as what you have takes society back decades where politics and politicians were corrupt and Boss Tweed was King!
If you believe OR you are trying to get others to believe that “minutes” are easily obtainable, you better hope that there is NOTHING contained in those minutes those good Officials do NOT want to really get out! Tax-paying citizens will get the “run-around” if they seek minutes that may contain anything the Officials want to hide! You can bank on that!
I am sure if/when there is something positive for Josh to print about the Officials that he will do so. However, it appears to many citizens that Josh is not an ally because he does not just print what they want us to know.
I do have a positive article that I so hope to read in the near future though: “Election Night Upsets: Incumbents Ousted!”
Closed session meeting = no public input. For all those capital letters you seem to have missed the point. Maybe it’s because you have a personal vendetta because of the city minutes thing (which has nothing to do with the county minutes).
J:
Again you dazzle me with your intelligence! Thanks for letting me know what I SHOULD be thinking! Don’t know where little ole people such as myself would be without someone like you telling us what we meant or what we should think? Guess that I should be more like you and your way of thinking! You know: “if you can not dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bulls***!”
J:
Oh, so you personally know that the City does NOT want to hand over those precious minutes! Well don’t that just beat all!!!
I guess I should just know better than to waste my time with you.
Also – for being who you are, you sure don’t have a lot of sense. You would think considering your relatives that you would be a bit more sympathetic.
J:
However, its not too difficult for one to figure out which side of the tracks your relatives reside in reference to shall we say the City?
I have more education in the fingernail clippings that I throw away than you do in that entire big head of yours.
For some reason, you believe you know who I am related too! You have no idea who I truly am or who I am related too in Columbia! If you believe for some simple-minded reason that I am related to any of the people I so vehemently protest for when it comes to their rights being violated, you could not be any further from the truth!
I should not want your blood pressure to rise any higher than I have so unfortunately done thus far, so I will end it here!
Seems like you think that Josh should report on anything except the supervisors or elected officials.Maybe you want them(supervisors) do do anything that they want-but most of us do not. Wonder if the supervisors will make an apology to the residents of this county if they are wrong? A reporter’s job is to report– regardless of whether the news be positive or negative.As for barring someone from attendance, how would the supervisors legally bar any citizen from meetings unless that citizen were unlawful in his behavior?
In this case it is not reporting. The paper is reporting on an action they themselves are taking. The paper created this story itself.
You’re wrong, J. The paper did not cause the county to hold a meeting without giving proper notification. Thank goodness there’s someone with a journalism background and deep understanding of open records requirements to hold the officials that YOU pay to some standards.
Nope J. You’re wrong all over the place on this one.
First, the county did not hold a meeting without proper notification — the board was in session 10 days and notice was not required.
Second, the story is about an action the Informer itself is doing. It’s reporting the fact that the Informer itself is filing a claim.
J. Exactly. The key word here is “proper.” If the state agrees that giving constituents a blanket 10 day notice is suffient, so be it. Personally, I doubt that will fly, even in Mississippi. So, it follows that the county initiated the story by giving blanket notice of a meeting. That’s the issue, and I believe Josh would not have written the stories or filed the complaint had the county posted proper meeting notices, and had the county made a sincere effort to inform the people of meeting times and places.
About your second point, I’ll tip my hat again to Josh and his efforts to bring transparency to—-you guessed it—-even remote parts of the deep south!
To: Fedup
I don’t dispute that minutes are public record however, in Marion County only the minimum requirement is met. I have personally gone to read the minutes before. The office staff looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language when I asked to see them . After a significant pause the worker took me to a closet were the minutes books were. The books were not neatly stored but just laying around. I had to stand while reading. When I asked if there was anyway I could make a copy, I was told NO despite the fact I offered to pay. My suggestion is that the minutes be made more accessible to the public the same way other Mississippi counties are doing.
FWIW, I’ve found my little digital camera handy for copying texts ranging from official documents to recipes in magazines. It’s small enough to comfortably fit in a pocket and if I don’t have it then the crappy little camera in my cell phone works fairly well except in low light.
I’m just guessing it’s legal to copy public documents since they’re a matter of public record. Strictly speaking the recipes are covered by copyright laws and are not supposed to be copied in any way without permission which would include writing them on a notepad! Please excuse the digression there.
Public record does not qualify and is not the equivalent to public notice.
During the 10 day period the board is in continual session there is no notice required for meetings. The Informer is simply wrong in this case.
Does that mean I should be able to go to the board meeting room 24/7 during the 10 day period and the board will be meeting or “in session”?
When Congress is in session does that mean you can go to the Senate 24/7 and they will be meeting or “in session?” Don’t be retarded.
Only time will tell on this one. I’m betting it’s you who is wrong, J. The county is skirting the sunshine provisions. The cool thing is that a single person, Josh, is responsible for bringing this to light. A single person will, I believe, change the way county officials behave in the future. Next time you see a journalist, that him/her.
Thanks, Josh.
Oh, and I’m talking about thanking real journalists instead of the journalist wannbees who write for the sources and only quote the talking head officials. IMHO, Columbia has had plenty of those!
Keep on keepin’ on, Josh. You’re about to change the whole way a county does its business. With the change will come transparency, and that’s good, buddy. Thanks. So nice to see real journalism going on in Columbia.
This isn’t journalism, it’s a scandal sheet!!! I love how everyone on here knows who to fix the worlds problems; however this website is as far as they make it. If you all know so much put your name on a ballot, or head off to one of the law enforcement acadamies in the state. Talk is cheap people!!!
Why, pray tell, do you read this if you see it as a scandal sheet? Doesn’t make sense to me, pal. I stay away from news sources that I can’t trust. This one is one I know I can trust to tell me the truth.
And free speech is wonderful – Isn’t it?
Awww columbianative! Was your copy of the Enquirer sold before you made it the check-out rack? Bless your little heart because you had to resort to this old rag instead for the scandal sheet low-down! Next time swing by the check-out line before you continue shopping and maybe J wont buy your copy!
Josh, the Act you posted doesn’t appear to be in conflict with Mr. Shepard’s explanation to you.
And, by the way, Mr. Shepard likely knows what is and isn’t proper “under the law.” That’s what he and others in his trade learn those three extra years post-graduate – The Law And How To Interpret It. That’s about all, perhaps, but they do learn that much.
Likely knows? He and others in his trade learn? In the past, so many people have listened to “Professionals” because they are the people in the know, when it actually turns out to be a tapdance to baffle the people so that they believe the “Professional” knows what he is talking about, and then drop the subject. It appears to me that those days are numbered or over with. Too many people back off when they are given an “explanation”, without asking for references and following up on them.
Well put, Grasshopper.
I cannot believe that there are people living in this county who are offended by the Informer’s effort in this matter! I am delighted that I can trust this newspaper to keep me informed.
Tell you what if the S–T is big enough in regards to some impoper act even stirring it will get little more done than letting others know that there’s some of going on. Just look at the pot I’ve been strirring for some time now. Some of these action are tied to big time crimes. Like that old song. No one knows what goes on behind closed doors. ya,right!
I Heard from another City, that a public notice is for the public.HELL-O,Thats You & Me.
guess i’ll stay w/the truth of it .
The Real Law.Only One Real LAW.The LAW.Plain & Simple.
The Law Is What The System Can Not Stand.The System Wants To Be Rite,& They Are,Within The Systems law of thinking,But ,BY The LAW Side Of Things,The system has nothing.
AND Friends,THATS The BOTTOM LINE,Cause The LAW Is The LAW.
*,now SiT On This.
~~~
What are you on?? You sound like me in the 60’s, talkin’ about the ‘establishment’ (what you call the system) and ‘not giving in to it, man’. You know, BE REAL, man; that’s the bottom line. LOL
*Now, roll another one.
Again I quote, “All that is required for evil to triumph is that good people do nothing.”
Actually that’s not a direct quote but a sentiment expressed in various ways over the years; its truth makes it immortal though.
Amen, Brother…or Sister. Anyway, what I mean is, you are SO right! And how diplomatic of you to use “people” in place of “men”, (which I believe was the word used in the original quote.)
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