On July 1 enforcement of the Open Meeting Law was centralized under the Attorney General’s Office.

It was a topic at last night’s Board of Selectman’s meeting. The law “supports the principle that the democratic process depends on the public having knowledge about the considerations underlying governmental action. The Open Meeting Law requires that most meetings of governmental bodies to be held in public. There are some exceptions, which are designed to ensure that, public officials are not “unduly hampered” by having every discussion among public officials open to the public” as stated on the Attorney General’s web site

Kevin Mearn, Town Administrator, has been in contact with the AG’s office regarding compliance. Posting meetings to the town web site is insufficient as not all of the public may have access to that channel of information. He was told that some town simply have a notebook chained to a table in the foyer of their town hall.

At the moment you can view meeting notices and agendas on the windows of town hall at the right side entrance which has handicapped access. There are a lot of them and as Selectman Shields noted, they can be difficult to read given their position (extremely high or low on the window) and the angle of sunlight.

Jim Mullen, Town Clerk, has suggested the possibility of installing a large computer display that would scroll the meeting calendar. This was viewed as a good solution. While technically doable, it will need to be funded.

The Governor Stoughton Committee was found n violation of the open meeting law in the early spring. According to the law town boards and committees are required to hold meetings open to the public. There are some topics and issues such as salary negotiations which can be discussed in executive session. You can find complete information on the law including the statute, regulations and a guide to the law at the Attorney General’s web site here.

Today’s Globe has an article on how municipalities in general are reacting to the stricter requirements. Here is the article:

Open meetings law irks many: Neither side happy with regulations