4 Scott City councilmen met around dining room table, in violation of Sunshine Law

Four members of the Scott City council held a meeting last month that violated the Missouri Sunshine Law because it was not posted in advance, according to city officials.

The meeting occurred Saturday afternoon, Aug. 19, at a councilman’s house, officials said.

The meeting took place five days after Mayor Ron Cummins and city administrator Diann Ulmer resigned.

On Aug. 23, Cummins filed a Sunshine Law complaint with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office regarding the meeting.

In an Aug. 31 letter to city attorney Francis Siebert, the attorney general’s Sunshine Law coordinator asked that the city respond to the complaint by Sept. 21.

Siebert addressed the issue in a three-page letter to the Attorney General’s Office dated Wednesday.

Siebert emailed a copy of that letter to the Southeast Missourian.

Councilman Randy Morse, who chairs the city’s administrative/finance committee, contacted committee members Aug. 18 to schedule the meeting for Aug. 19, Siebert said. The meeting was not posted, Siebert said.

According to the city attorney, Morse called the meeting “to find financing for hiring a new city administrator, and second to discuss credit-card usage.”

It was held at the home of Councilman Gary Spinks because the councilmen did not have keys to open city hall, Siebert said. According to city minutes provided by Siebert, the meeting occurred at Spink’s dining-room table.

Norman Brant, who took over as mayor after Cummins resigned, has keys to city hall, but he was out of town, Siebert explained in the letter.

Brant said Thursday he remedied that problem recently by dropping off a key at the police station in case council members need to get into city hall when he is gone.

According to minutes of the Aug. 19 meeting provided by Siebert, the meeting was attended by Morse, Spinks and fellow councilmen Bill Schwartz and Mike Ellison.

City clerk Logan Eddleman said Thursday she learned of the scheduled meeting and phoned Brant within minutes before the meeting was to start.

Eddleman said she told the mayor the meeting was not posted as required by the Sunshine Law.

In addition, she said holding the meeting at a councilman’s house also violates the law, which states such meetings must be held at a location accessible to the public. Eddleman said Brant indicated he would call Morse and tell him to cancel the meeting.

Brant said Thursday he called Morse and Spinks, but neither answered.

Brant said Morse called him back, but not until after the meeting had ended.

Eddleman said she learned Aug. 23 the meeting had been held. She contacted the city prosecutor, who works with Siebert, and the Missouri Municipal League.

Siebert said Eddleman was unable to speak to him because he was on vacation.

Siebert wrote in the letter the “Municipal League and my partner advised her that the ... meeting was improperly called and she should not pay the councilmen attending.”

Siebert said the councilmen agreed to waive payment they normally would receive for conducting city business.

The city committee held a subsequent meeting Aug. 24 at city hall to discuss the same two issues, according to Siebert. A notice of that meeting was posted properly, he said.

Eddleman said she is resigning as city clerk, effective at the end of September.

Eddleman, who previously worked as a police dispatcher and then water-billing clerk, was named city clerk in March after Cindy Uhrhan was fired.

She declined to discuss her decision to resign beyond noting in an email to the Southeast Missourian her husband works in Montana “and would like for me and our son to start traveling with him.”

Brant said the council is scheduled to hold a closed-door meeting Monday to discuss personnel issues, including replacing the city clerk.

As for the Aug. 19 meeting, Siebert wrote, “Mr. Morse was under the mistaken impression that since the committee did not constitute a quorum of the council, no notice was required to be posted.”

Five of eight council members are needed to conduct city business, officials said.

But notices of city committee meetings and council meetings must be posted at least 24 hours in advance of the meetings, and that notice must be given during the regular workweek and not on weekends, Eddleman said.

After returning from vacation, Siebert said he spoke to the city clerk about the Aug. 19 meeting.

Siebert said he then discussed the requirements of the Sunshine Law with the entire council at an Aug. 28 meeting.

“Councilman Morse ... admitted he erred and apologized,” Siebert wrote.

Morse said Thursday he did not realize until this issue surfaced that city committee meetings had to comply with the Sunshine Law.

“There was a little confusion,” Morse said.

He said he called the meeting to go over budget figures with the other committee members. No decisions were made, he said, adding he took notes of the meeting.

Morse said he hopes the council can move ahead.

“We just want to do what is best for the city,” he said.

Cummins’ complaint mentioned Schwartz and Spinks also attended the meeting.

Cummins said Thursday he was not aware Ellison attended. Minutes of the Aug. 19 meeting, however, show Ellison did attend.

Siebert’s letter speaks only of the three council members listed by Cummins in the complaint.

Siebert wrote Schwartz and Spinks “were unaware of whether or not it was properly posted.”

Siebert said “it is noteworthy that Councilman Spinks was just elected in April, is still learning the ‘ropes’ of city government and the Sunshine Law and has been constantly inquiring about possible seminars regarding the Sunshine Law and other municipal issues available for Municipal officers and employees.”

The city considers the complaint moot because the meeting subsequently was rescheduled and the issues addressed in open session, Siebert said.

Siebert wrote failure to post the Aug. 19 meeting was due in part to the committee’s “past reliance on the city administrator.”

He added all “subunits of the city have or are being advised of the necessity of compliance with the Sunshine Law.”

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

215 Chester Ave., Scott City, Mo.