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Councilmembers should not communicate with any member of city staff via <br />electronic means during a public meeting. <br />• Councilmembers are encouraged not to communicate with the public via <br />electronic means during a public meeting. <br />Communication outside of Council meetings. <br />• Councilmembers should generally act with caution when using electronic means <br />to communicate with one another, being mindful of the Minnesota Open Meeting <br />Law. <br />If a Councilmember wishes to share information with other members, s/he should <br />do so through the city clerk. The Councilmember may request the city clerk <br />distribute materials to others.. The communication should not invite response to <br />or discussion between any Councilmembers, including replies to the person <br />making the distribution request. This should be considered a method for <br />providing one-way information to other members of the Council. Again, <br />remember that materials relating to agenda items for city business must be <br />provided to the public at the meeting. <br />• If a Councilmember wishes to address only one other member through electronic <br />means on any topic related to city business, s/he can do so directly, but should be <br />mindful of the following: <br />o One-to-one communication is ideal. <br />o The recipient of an electronic message or inquiry should reply only to the <br />sender, should not copy others on the reply and should not forward the <br />original email to other Councilmembers.. <br />o The sender of an electronic message should not forward or copy the <br />recipient's reply to any other Councilmember. <br />• If a Councilmember receives an electronic communication from any source <br />related to city business and distributed to multiple Councilmembers, (i.e. an email <br />sent to the entire Council from a member of the public' or an email sent to three <br />Councilmembers from a local business), s/he should reply only to the sender. The <br />reply should not be copied to all on the original distribution or forwarded to any <br />other Councilmember. <br />If a Councilmember receives listsery distributions, electronic newsletters, or <br />participates in electronic discussion forums where other Councilmembers are also <br />likely to participate (such as chat rooms), the Councilmember should not reply to <br />any distribution or comment so that the reply is copied to the entire distribution <br />group, or any part of the group that might include other Councilmembers. The <br />IAAGENDA COUNCIL & COI IMSSION\City Council\2009\August\GuidelinesPolicyforelectroniccommunications.docx <br />