LINCOLN -- The Town Council did not break the state's Open Meetings Law when it held a December 2004 meeting at the home of Councilwoman Elizabeth Robinson, the state attorney general's office has decided.
The ruling, dated last month, was prompted by a compliant from John Cullen, a town Democrat who objected to the Town Council holding a meeting in a private home. He ripped the attorney general's opinion, saying it opened the door to public bodies across the state holding public meetings in other than public locations.
"It's very insulting to the citizens of Rhode Island," Cullen said.
"The attorney general's office is condoning having a public meeting in a private home," Cullen said.
In the opinion, Assistant Attorney General Brenda B. Baum acknowledged that the opinion creates "the potential for abuse" in allowing meetings to be held away from conventional public locations. But she also noted that the state's Open Meetings Law doesn't prohibit or define the types of buildings where meetings may be held.
"The Open Meetings act does not identify specific locations where meetings may be held," the opinion said, "as long as the facility is accessible to persons with disabilities."
A temporary ramp was at the Robinson house to provide wheelchair access if needed, the opinion said. The only other relevant requirement about the meeting was that it be properly posted so interested members of the public would know where to go, and that notice was posted four days before the meeting at Town Hall and in the town's public library.
"Here we have no evidence that the council-elect attempted to circumvent, hinder or prohibit access at this meeting," the opinion said.
Robinson said no important business had been planned for the meeting. It was instead meant as a get-together for the four newly elected members so they could meet each other and be briefed on council procedures. Robinson said she felt that even though the members hadn't been sworn in and the old council was still in office, and she considered it more a social event than an official one, it was best to post a notice. Minutes were kept and filed.
That was a good idea, because Baum's decision noted that the Open Meetings Law applies to council-elect members just as it does to sworn-in members.
Robinson said she hosted the event because she was the only returning member of the previous five-seat council. She said she felt the meeting was adequately noted because a member of the public did come to the meeting.
Cullen said his concern was for the precedent the opinion sets. The 2004 meeting may have been sparsely attended, he said, but the reasoning behind the finding leaves open the possibility that a meeting on a more controversial matter could just as easily be held at a private home or a remote location.
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