CLOSED MEETING SCHEDULED, VIOLATION OF OPEN MEETINGS ACT??

             Jackson County Commission Chairperson Sadie Bias

               Senator Shadrack McGill, Alabama Senate District 8

The Jackson County Commission and the Jackson County Legislative Delegation announces in the weekend edition of the Daily Sentinel, http://thedailysentinel.com/news/article_21f6da04-623d-11e0-b6da-001cc4c03286.html ,  they will "hold a closed meeting" Monday, April 11, 2011 at an undisclosed location to discuss and deliberate concerning the disposition of TVA in lieu of taxes. "...the meeting will be a time to reach an agreement between both entities on how the money [TVA in lieu of taxes] should be used...We are confident an agreement will be made." Quoting Keisha Gardner, Legislative Delegation District Coordinator, as reported in the newspaper.

The Alabama Open Meetings Law, "Section 36-25A-1 (a) It is the policy of this state that the deliberative process of governmental bodies shall be open to the public during meetings as defined in Section 36-25A-2(6). Except for executive sessions permitted in Section 36-25A-7(a) or as otherwise expressly provided by other federal or state statutes, all meetings of a governmental body shall be open to the public and no meetings of a governmental body may be held without providing notice pursuant to the requirements of Section 36-25A-3. No executive sessions are required by this chapter to be held under any circumstances. Electronic communications shall not be utilized to circumvent any of the provisions of this chapter."

The article states the meeting will consist of Senator Shadrack McGill, Rep. John Robinson, Rep. Wayne Johnson (the full delegation), Commission Chairperson Sadie Bias, County Administrator Sandra Erickson and legal council for both groups.

If the full commission is not present what decision is to be made concerning the county commission? The Jackson County Legislative Delegation is a political entity, members of the state legislature and an entity of the political subdivision of Jackson County, a body politic (body politic- A group of persons politically organized under a single governmental authority, the state legislature, under law.) with the authority to issue public funds, the delegation has issued considerable public funds. The meeting should be open to the public.

Discussion on al.com Scottsboro Forum concerning the proposed closed meeting. http://www.al.com/forums/scottsboro/index.ssf  (post 7800 CLOSED MEETING TO BE HELD BY COUNTY COMMISSION MEMBERS AND LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION )

"Doc's Political Parlor and Small Town Political Gazette" :  http://www.politicalparlor.net/wp/2011/04/09/small-town-political-gazette-040911/comment-page-1/#comment-313526


If there is any question about whether the Legislative Delegation is obligated to follow the Open Meetings Law go to this link, The Alabama Open Meetings Act, A Manual for Public Officials, page 8. http://www.acca-online.org/oml/ag_open_meeting.pdf

    

                              State Senator Shadrack McGill

                                 State Rep. John Robinson

                                State Rep. Wayne Johnson

 Jackson County Commission and Senator McGill, left at table head.

Previous Clarion Articles on the issue: http://www.theclarion.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1504:ag-gives-opinion-on-tva-in-lieu-of-tax-funds&catid=42:clarion-rotation-stories&Itemid=142 

Previous Daily Sentinel Articles on issue:  http://thedailysentinel.com/news/article_5da1dcea-fc06-11df-80e3-001cc4c002e0.html   http://thedailysentinel.com/news/local/article_566e76b0-5a41-11e0-849e-001cc4c03286.html  http://thedailysentinel.com/news/local/article_39597972-0194-11e0-94bb-001cc4c002e0.html