Two Grand Rapids city commissioners said they want to know the legality of secret commission meetings in response to a Target 8 investigation.
“Not only should we look into it, we’re going to look into it because it’s a matter of concern for the public,” Second Ward Commissioner Joseph Jones said on Friday.
Target 8 revealed on Thursday that Grand Rapids city commissioners meet in a series of so-called “sub-quorums,” just less than a quorum, every other Tuesday to discuss important issues, roads, public safety, backyard chickens, long before those issues become public.
“I find the gatherings on those Tuesday mornings very helpful because we’re talking about very complex issues,” Jones said.
An attorney for the Michigan Press Association said the meetings appear to violate the Open Meetings Act.
Online: Citizen’s guide to the Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act
Target 8 spoke to Mayor Rosalynn Bliss and several city commissioners on Friday after a tree-planting ceremony.
The commissioners said they were unaware that the state Court of Appeals had ruled that similar sub-quorum meetings in the city of Wyoming nearly 30 years ago violated the Open Meetings Act.
“I was on the city commission since 2010 and we were never informed about that decision,” Second Ward Commissioner Ruth Kelly said.
“We’ll look into it, of course,” she said.
The mayor, who hosted Friday’s tree-planting, had denied previous requests for an interview.
She turned the focus on the city manager and the city attorney.
“I rely on our city attorney and, again, these are meetings called for an organized by the city manager,” Bliss said. “They’re not led, they’re not organized by any elected official.”
The mayor said she didn’t know that the Michigan Municipal League warns against such meetings. She’s president of the MML board.
“I haven’t had that conversation with MML,” Bliss said. “Honestly, I haven’t.”
She refused further comment.
“I’ve got trees to plant. Thank you.”
Third Ward Commissioner David Allen blamed former City Attorney Catherine Mish, who is running for city commission.
Mish told Target 8 she would refuse to go to the meetings if elected.
“That’s the most disingenuous comment I’ve ever heard from her, and she sat at the table for every one of these meetings,” Allen said. “And if she was doing her job and felt that it was wrong and that she shouldn’t have participated, she had a responsibility to let the commission know and she didn’t.”
Third Ward Commissioner Senita Lenear was also at Friday’s tree-planting, but she ducked our questions.
The mayor and commissioners referred Target 8 to City Attorney Anita Hitchcock, who didn’t return calls. She has said she believes the meetings are legal.
Mish, the former city attorney, resigned last year to go into private practice. She’s running for a Second Ward commission seat.
She said she couldn’t comment on any advice she gave the city on the meetings because of attorney-client privilege.
Mish also dismissed Commissioner Allen’s comments, saying she announced her resignation not long after Allen took office.