West Flushing Civic Association

OPEN MEETINGS LAW: Can You Find All Of The Violations By CB 7?

THE NEW YORK STATE OPEN MEETINGS LAW

ARTICLE 7
OPEN MEETINGS LAW
Section 100. Legislative declaration.
101. Short title.
102. Definitions.
103. Open meetings and executive sessions.
104. Public notice.
105. Conduct of executive sessions.
106. Minutes.
107. Enforcement.
108. Exemptions.
109. Committee on open government.
110. Construction with other laws.
111. Severability.

Sec. 100. Legislative declaration. It is essential to the
maintenance of a democratic society that the public business be
performed in an open and public manner and that the citizens of this
state be fully aware of and able to observe the performance of public
officials and attend and listen to the deliberations and decisions
that go into the making of public policy. The people must be able to
remain informed if they are to retain control over those who are
their public servants. It is the only climate under which the
commonweal will prosper and enable the governmental process to
operate for the benefit of those who created it.

Sec. 101. Short title. This article shall be known and may be
cited as "Open Meetings Law".

S 102. Definitions. As used in this article: 1. "Meeting" means the
official convening of a public body for the purpose of conducting public
business, including the use of videoconferencing for attendance and
participation by the members of the public body.
2. "Public body" means any entity, for which a quorum is required in
order to conduct public business and which consists of two or more
members, performing a governmental function for the state or for an
agency or department thereof, or for a public corporation as defined in
section sixty-six of the general construction law, or committee or
subcommittee or other similar body of such public body.
3. "Executive session" means that portion of a meeting not open to the
general public.

S 103. Open meetings and executive sessions. (a) Every meeting of a
public body shall be open to the general public, except that an execu-
tive session of such body may be called and business transacted thereat
in accordance with section ninety-five of this article.
(b) Public bodies shall make or cause to be made all reasonable
efforts to ensure that meetings are held in facilities that permit
barrier-free physical access to the physically handicapped, as defined
in subdivision five of section fifty of the public buildings law.
(c) A public body that uses videoconferencing to conduct its meetings
shall provide an opportunity for the public to attend, listen and
observe at any site at which a member participates.

S 104. Public notice. 1. Public notice of the time and place of a
meeting scheduled at least one week prior thereto shall be given to the
news media and shall be conspicuously posted in one or more designated
public locations at least seventy-two hours before such meeting.
2. Public notice of the time and place of every other meeting shall be
given, to the extent practicable, to the news media and shall be
conspicuously posted in one or more designated public locations at a
reasonable time prior thereto.
3. The public notice provided for by this section shall not be
construed to require publication as a legal notice.
4. If videoconferencing is used to conduct a meeting, the public
notice for the meeting shall inform the public that videoconferencing
will be used, identify the locations for the meeting, and state that the
public has the right to attend the meeting at any of the locations.

Sec. 105. Conduct of executive sessions. 1. Upon a majority vote
of its total membership, taken in an open meeting pursuant to a
motion identifying the general area or areas of the subject or
subjects to be considered, a public body may conduct an executive
session for the below enumerated purposes only, provided, however,
that no action by formal vote shall be taken to appropriate public
moneys:
a. matters which will imperil the public safety if disclosed;
b. any matter which may disclose the identity of a law enforcement
agent or informer;
c. information relating to current or future investigation or
prosecution of a criminal offense which would imperil effective law
enforcement if disclosed;
d. discussions regarding proposed, pending or current litigation;
e. collective negotiations pursuant to article fourteen of the
civil service law;
f. the medical, financial, credit or employment history of a
particular person or corporation, or matters leading to the
appointment, employment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension,
dismissal or removal of a particular person or corporation;
g. the preparation, grading or administration of examinations; and
h. the proposed acquisition, sale or lease of real property or the
proposed acquisition of securities, or sale or exchange of securities
held by such public body, but only when publicity would substantially
affect the value thereof.
2. Attendance at an executive session shall be permitted to any
member of the public body and any other persons authorized by the
public body.

Sec. 106. Minutes. 1. Minutes shall be taken at all open
meetings of a public body which shall consist of a record or summary
of all motions, proposals, resolutions and any other matter formally
voted upon and the vote thereon.
2. Minutes shall be taken at executive sessions of any action that
is taken by formal vote which shall consist of a record or summary of
the final determination of such action, and the date and vote
thereon; provided, however, that such summary need not include any
matter which is not required to be made public by the freedom of
information law as added by article six of this chapter.
3. Minutes of meetings of all public bodies shall be available to
the public in accordance with the provisions of the freedom of
information law within two weeks from the date of such meeting except
that minutes taken pursuant to subdivision two hereof shall be
available to the public within one week from the date of the
executive session.

Sec. 107. Enforcement. 1. Any aggrieved person shall have
standing to enforce the provisions of this article against a public
body by the commencement of a proceeding pursuant to article
seventy-eight of the civil practice law and rules, and/or an action
for declaratory judgment and injunctive relief. In any such action
or proceeding, the court shall have the power, in its discretion,
upon good cause shown, to declare any action or part thereof taken in
violation of this article void in whole or in part.
An unintentional failure to fully comply with the notice provisions
required by this article shall not alone be grounds for invalidating
any action taken at a meeting of a public body. The provisions of
this article shall not affect the validity of the authorization,
acquisition, execution or disposition of a bond issue or notes.
2. In any proceeding brought pursuant to this section, costs and
reasonable attorney fees may be awarded by the court, in its
discretion, to the successful party.
3. The statute of limitations in an article seventy-eight
proceeding with respect to an action taken at executive session shall
commence to run from the date the minutes of such executive session
have been made available to the public.

S 108. Exemptions. Nothing contained in this article shall be construed
as extending the provisions hereof to:
1. judicial or quasi-judicial proceedings, except proceedings of the
public service commission and zoning boards of appeals;
2. a. deliberations of political committees, conferences and caucuses.
b. for purposes of this section, the deliberations of political
committees, conferences and caucuses means a private meeting of members of
the senate or assembly of the state of New York, or of the legislative body
of a county, city, town or village, who are members or adherents of the
same political party, without regard to (i) the subject matter under
discussion, including discussions of public business, (ii) the majority or
minority status of such political committees, conferences and caucuses or
(iii) whether such political committees, conferences and caucuses invite
staff or guests to participate in their deliberations; and
3. any matter made confidential by federal or state law.

S 109. Committee on open government. The committee on open
government, created by paragraph (a) of subdivision one of section
eighty-nine of this chapter, shall issue advisory opinions from time
to time as, in its discretion, may be required to inform public
bodies and persons of the interpretations of the provisions of the
open meetings law.

Sec. 110. Construction with other laws. 1. Any provision of a
charter, administrative code, local law, ordinance, or rule or
regulation affecting a public body which is more restrictive with
respect to public access than this article shall be deemed superseded
hereby to the extent that such provision is more restrictive than
this article.
2. Any provision of general, special or local law or charter,
administrative code, ordinance, or rule or regulation less
restrictive with respect to public access than this article shall not
be deemed superseded hereby.
3. Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the contrary,
a public body may adopt provisions less restrictive with respect to
public access than this article.

Sec. 111. Severability. If any provision of this article or the
application thereof to any person or circumstances is adjudged
invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, such judgment shall not
affect or impair the validity of the other provisions of the article
or the application thereof to other persons and circumstances.