City of Morris violates Open Meetings Act?

The City of Morris does not post agendas for city council meetings on it's website.

This omission seems to be in violation of the Open Meetings Act, Sec. 2.02(a), which provides that:

"A public body that has a website that the full‑time staff of the public body maintains shall also post on its website the agenda of any regular meetings of the governing body of that public body."

And, according to the Better Government Association, the City of Morris also has trouble complying with the Freedom of Information Act. Read their report here.

City attorney squelches alderman

The Morris Daily Herald has published an article by Mike Farrell entitled "Extra alderman's involvement could violate law." The article is not available online.

In the article, Farrell explains why Alderman Don Matteson was not permitted to speak when he attended a meeting of a committee of which he is not a member.

Unbelievable? Yes, according to Mike Farrell, our city attorney has recommended that aldermen not be permitted to speak at committee meetings!

The explanation given by our pricey city attorney is that a fourth alderman would make a "majority of a quorum and could be a violation of the Open Meetings Act."

The Open Meetings Act, according to guidelines published by Attorney General Lisa Madigan, is intended "to ensure that the actions of public bodies be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly."

The Act, with few exceptions, requires that "all meetings of public bodies shall be open to the public." A "meeting" is defined as "any gathering of a majority of a quorum of the members of a public body held for the purpose of discussing public business."

Most, if not all, Morris city council committees consist of three alderman members. Thus, two committee members would constitute a majority of a quorum. This simply triggers the requirement (which the city complies with) that the meeting be open to the public, and that there must be public notice of the meeting.

Nothing in the Open Meetings Act remotely suggests that any individual, alderman or private citizen, is prohibited from speaking at a public meeting.


Attorney General Lisa Madigan's Open Meetings Act website

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