Knowing the Waters — Basic Legal Guidelines for Port District Officials
3. Notes and tapes are not “minutes” but are “public records.”46 They may be exempt from public disclosure for particular reasons; e.g., notes or tapes of executive sessions may be withheld while the “vital governmental interest” or “personal privacy” reason for the executive session itself continues to exist. There are differing opinions as to whether or not minutes of an executive session, if taken, are “public records”.47 If minutes are kept they should be carefully worded so as not to frustrate the purpose of the executive session, if later they are held to be “public” records.
J. VIOLATIONS/ REMEDIES
1. Ordinances, rules, resolutions, regulations, orders or directives adopted in violation of the act are invalid.48 2. A member of a governing body who knowingly participates in violating the act is subject to a $100 civil penalty.49 3. "Mandamus" or injunctive action may be brought to stop or prevent violations.50 4. Any person may sue to recover the penalty or to stop or prevent violations.51 The auditor/attorney general may enforce violations of the act.52 5. A person prevailing against an agency is entitled to be awarded all costs including reasonable attorneys’ fees. However, if the court finds that the action was frivolous and advanced without reasonable cause, the court may award to the agency reasonable expenses and attorneys’ fees.53
K. OPEN PUBLIC MEETINGS ACT
The following are some helpful questions and answers taken verbatim and/ or adapted from the Attorney General‘s Open Public Meetings Act, ante.
QUESTIONS AND
Question: What final action is required to be taken only in open session?
ANSWERS
Answer:
Any final action, regardless of the subject, which is manifested by the adoption of an ordinance, resolution, rule, regulation, order or directive must occur at a meeting open to the public even though preliminary consideration lawfully may have occurred in the executive session. However, the appellate court decisions in the State of Washington are not consistent and have held that other types of action taken in violation of the Act are void and unenforceable.
Question: Can the commission members meet before a regular or special meeting for dinner, or at other locations, to discuss agenda items without scheduling it as part of the meeting? Answer:
The answer is NO because such discussions constitute action pursuant to the Act. These types of meetings before a regular or special meeting should be scheduled on the agenda as study sessions, which would be part of the meeting and thus open to the public.
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