Festus City Council members and staff “may have” violated Missouri’s Sunshine Law when council members voted electronically last summer to give city employees a day off on July 5, according to the Missouri Attorney General’s Office.
Shortly after that vote, former Festus City Council member Tim Montgomery filed a complaint with the state about the electronic vote, and he received a Feb. 19 letter from the Attorney General’s Office addressing his concerns.
The letter, signed by assistant attorney general Benjamin Walker, refers to a separate letter sent to Festus city attorney Lawrence Wadsack, which said the office would not seek litigation over the “closed meeting via electronic correspondence without public notice.”
However, the letter urged the Festus council and some staff members to take “at least one Sunshine Law training course offered by the Attorney General’s Office in the next six months.”
Montgomery, who has brought up the matter repeatedly to Festus officials and staff, said he filed his complaint because he believes Festus city government isn’t as transparent as it should be.
“That’s my whole point,” he said.
Montgomery also said he feels vindicated since receiving the Attorney General’s response.
“I think it identifies the problem about transparency,” he said. “I am satisfied with the response I read from the Attorney General’s Office. What the AG and the City Council members acknowledge is their electronic meeting could be interpreted as a public meeting and this could be interpreted as a violation of the Sunshine Law because there was no 24-hour notice of a meeting.”
At the Feb. 26 City Council meeting, Festus Mayor Sam Richards read a statement city officials had prepared in response to the Attorney General’s letter.
“The complaint (was) related to a vote of the City Council to give city employees the day off on Friday, July 5, as most county/municipal employees in the area had been given. At its June 26 meeting, the City Council held a vote on a motion to give city employees the day off. Because several members of the council were absent, it initially appeared the vote of 4-1 was not sufficient to pass – it was later determined that (the) motion needed only a majority of those council members present, and therefore passed.
“However, because the motion initially appeared to have failed, and several council members were not present for the vote, the city administrator later reached out to the council members via text message to get their sense of whether Festus employees should have July 5 off. The city administrator communicated via email and text message with the council because time was of the essence.”
The statement went on to say the city will schedule Sunshine Law training, as recommended.
“We welcome the Attorney General’s offer to conduct Sunshine Law training and have already contacted the Attorney General’s Office to schedule a training class as soon as possible to ensure the city’s business is conducted in an open and transparent manner.”
Walker’s letter to Wadsack urged “all members of the City Council, the city clerk, the city administrator and the city’s key employees to take” a Sunshine Law training course.
City Administrator Greg Camp said that although the mayor was not specifically mentioned, Richards also will take the training.
“In the spirit of the letter, we would hope to include as many key personnel in the training as possible, including the mayor,” Camp said.
Ward 2 Councilman Brian Wehner said he believes the training will benefit council members and staff who take it.
“I think it would be prudent to become more knowledgeable about the Sunshine Law,” Wehner said. “It’s just the right thing to do.”
After Richards read the statement responding to the Attorney General’s letter, he added, “As far as we are concerned, the incident is closed.”
Richards said he did not wish to comment beyond the statement.