“City Policy on Open Meetings

“The city’s policy on various committees, commissions, boards and task forces was established through a city council resolution, passed on Nov. 4, 1991:

“R-642-11-91 Resolution Regarding Open Meetings For City Committees, Commissions, Boards And Task Forces
Whereas, The City Council desires that all meetings of City boards, task forces, commissions and committees conform to the spirit of the Open Meetings Act;

“Resolved, That all City boards, task forces, commissions, committees and their subcommittees hold their meetings open to the public to the best of their abilities in the spirit of Section 3 of the Open Meetings Act; and

“Resolved, That closed meetings of such bodies be held only under situations where a closed meeting would be authorized in the spirit of the Open Meetings Act.”

The AADL Board has made a point in the past year of stating that they meticulously follow the Open Meetings Act and that they are completely compliant with the law in holding closed meetings of committees composed of only 3 Board members. That is correct. But they care not, apparently, for the spirit of the law. It’s refreshing to know that City Council officially tries to comply with both letter and spirit. Methinks the AADL Board doth protest too much.

“Because membership on each committee consists of only three trustees, which is fewer than a quorum of the board, the meetings are not required to be open to the public under Michigan’s Open Meetings Act. The board has the option of making its committee meetings open to the public, but has chosen not to do so.”

So much for transparency.

Let the opaqueness continue! (I wonder what it hides.)

Previously, the library board has contracted with Allerton Hill of Columbus, Ohio, RIC-MRA of Lansing and INForm of Northville, thus sending Ann Arbor tax dollars out of town.

Ann Arbor is not a wasteland and quality services should be identifiable for many if not all projects.