A2: Council Emails

The Detroit News reports that more communities in southeast Michigan are banning elected officials from emailing, texting or using other electronic communications during public meetings. The article quotes Noah Hall, founder of the Great Lakes Environmental Law Center, which sued the city of Ann Arbor – that lawsuit revealed that some Ann Arbor city councilmembers had been emailing each other during meetings. Council later changed its rules to ban that practice. Says Hall:  ”We don’t want to push people back into the Stone Age or to limit the use of efficient communication. I think that misses the mark. Electronic communications should create a whole new level of openness and accountability.” [Source]