Chilkat Valley News - Serving Haines and Klukwan, Alaska since 1966

Last week’s CVN reported the manager, clerk, Mayor, and planner contacted an assembly member and requested she reconsider a vote.  Another member became aware new information was available regarding this vote, but wasn’t asked directly to reconsider. There are potential violations of the charter and Open Meetings Act (OMA) here.

First, the manager and clerk are borough officers. Charter 2.06 states officers “serve at the pleasure of the assembly, advising and assisting the assembly….” And Charter 2.03 defines the assembly as “six members.” Therefore, officers may only advise the ENTIRE assembly on public matters. And because the OMA defines a meeting as “more than three members, or a majority,” they may only advise the assembly in public meetings.

Second, if administration officials advise individual assembly members in separate private meetings, a “serial meeting” has occurred.  Here, individual members meet privately in small groups, considering a public matter they have power to act on. Information is then shared collectively, eventually reaching enough members to constitute a “meeting.”  

“Serial meetings” violate the OMA when found to circumvent open meeting requirements and stifle public discussion.  This scheme can be orchestrated solely by the membership, or even by administration officials. However, citizens can also be involved, acting as agents for the municipality, and “go-betweens” for the members. 

These issues of governance are much bigger than the vote in question. This involves how we decide to govern ourselves. Sometimes we get it wrong. And here, we might have.

Mike Denker