Agenda - Council - 09/25/1990 - Laserfiche WebLink

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LAW OFFICES STEFF .N & MU S ENTE Ea, P.A. ANOKA OFFICE (612) 427-6300 BROOKLYN PARK OFFICE (612) 580-0566 BERNARD E, STEFFEN STEPHEN H. MUNSTENTEIGER RICHARD A. BEENS DARRELL A. JENSEN RUSSELL H. CROWDER LAWRENCE R. JOHNSON NANCIE R. 'rHEISSEN CHARLES M. SEYKORA DANIEL D. GAN]ER, JR. BEVERLY K. DODGE SCOTT M. LEPAK DANA D. STRANDMO September 4, 1990 OPEN MEETINGS by Bernard E. Steffen and Scott M. Lepak As the name implies, the Open Meeting Law broadly requires public bodies to meet in public.1 Meetings are defined to include meetings of committees and subcommittees so that a governing body I I I may not evade the Open Meeting requirements simply by calling itself a committee.2 The Minnesota Open Meeting Law is similar to other "government in the sunshine" laws existing in other states. These laws were enacted to further three purposes: to prevent public bodies from acting secretly without the public having an I I opportunity to detect improper influences; to assure the public's right to be informed, and to afford an opportunity for members of 1 Minn. Stat. sec. 471.705, subd. 1 provides that: I I I I Except as otherwise expressly.provided by statute, all meetings, including executive sessions, of any (public body) ... shall be open to the public ... The votes of the members of such (public body) on any action taken in a meeting herein required to be open to the public shall be recorded in a journal kept for that purpose, which journal shall be open to the public during all normal business hours where such records are kept. The vote of each member shall be recorded on each appropriation of money, except for payments of judgments, claims and amounts fixed by statute. 2 St. Cloud Newspapers, Inc. v. District 742 Community Schools, 332 N.W.2d 1, 7 (Minn. 1983). 301 ANOKA PROFESSIONAL BUILDING JACKSON STREET · ANOKA, MINNESOTA 55303