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

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I I I I I I I I I i I I I I I governing body for the current budget period.~9 One significant aspect of this procedure is that the tapes do not have to be released until all labor contracts for the current budget period are signed by the public employer. In the event one labor contract is not signed, it appears that the public employer will not have to make any tapes of labor negotiations available to anyone until the contract is signed, even if the contents of the tapes deal with labor negotiations for a different labor contract. The second narrow exception to the Open Meeting Law allows closed meetings for attorney-client discussions regarding pending litigation. This exception has been long accepted by the Minnesota Supreme Court and was recently added to the list of Open Meeting exceptions in the statute.20 In the MinneaDolis Star & Tribune case, the Minnesota Supreme Court held that a meeting between an agency and its counsel could be closed where the meeting was for the purpose of discussing litigation strategy. The agency had been sued and was involved in immediate, active litigation. In dicta, the Minnesota Supreme Court stated that this exception will almost never extend to the mere request for general legal advice or opinion. The Minnesota Court of Appeals has interpreted the rule in the Minneapolis Star & Tribune case to allow closed meetings only to discuss strategy on specific litigation. See Northwest 19 Minn. Stat. sec. 471.705, subd. la (1988). 20 See MinneaDolis Star & Tribune Co. v. Housinq Redevelopment Authority, 310 Minn. 313, 251 N.W.2d 620 (1976). 12