Agenda - Council Work Session - 02/27/2018

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requests not to be identified publicly, and the agency or local government reasonably determines that access to the data would cause emotional or physical harm to the individual or otherwise impede the individual's recovery. DP-5. Open Meeting Law Issue: The Open Meeting Laws allows certain meetings to be held using interactive television provided that: all members of the body can hear and see one another and all discussion and testimony; members of the public can see and hear all discussion, testimony, and votes; at least one member of the body is physically present at the regular meeting location; and each remote location is open and accessible to the public. The Minnesota Department of Administration issued an advisory opinion (13-009) that allowed a city's use of Skype to conduct a remote meeting under Minn Stat. § 13.02, subd. 1. A "common sense" approach was applied to technology questions, which recognizes the difficulty cities must face when interpreting the Open Meeting Law in light of ever -changing technology. The Open Meeting Law also allows certain state bodies to conduct meetings via telephone and other electronic means, pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 13D.015. This useful tool should be expanded to local government to assure that members can attend meetings remotely if attendance at the regular meeting site is not possible. In order to ensure maximum public access, the Legislature should require that such meetings be allowed only if a quorum of members of the body is present at the regular meeting location. The use of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media creates opportunities for cities to reach more constituents and to share more information faster than ever before. Social media creates new opportunities for citizen participation, and citizens increasingly expect that their elected officials will provide them with information via the internet and social media sites. This expectation is not always consistent with laws that require citizens to attend a meeting in order to participate in local government. The use of social medial by elected officials raises issues of compliance with laws that were drafted before social media existed, and increases the likelihood of unintentional violations. In recognition of these issues, the 2014 Legislature created a social media exemption to the Open Meeting Law, Minn. Stat. § 13D.065, which states that the use of social media by members of a public body does not violate the law so long as the use is limited to exchanges with all members of the general public. Response: The League of Minnesota Cities supports the Department of Administration's interpretation of the interactive television provision of the Open Meeting Law, and encourages the Legislature to authorize cities to conduct official meetings by telephone or other electronic means, as allowed by Minn. Stat. § 13D.015, provided that a quorum of members are present at the regular meeting site. The League supports the 2014 change to the Open Meeting Law, which grants cities and elected officials reasonable flexibility to use social media to communicate with citizens while maintaining the protections of the Open Meeting Law. The League opposes any change to the open meeting law that would expand the award of attorney's fees to unintentional violations. League of Minnesota Cities 2018 City Policies Page 96