The Citizen

When Niles town clerk Christine Nolte takes longhand notes during a town board meeting, she can follow an agenda projected on the wall along with everyone else at the meeting. Town Supervisor Ricky Slagle initiated this practice when he took office at the beginning of 2008, increasing the efficiency and clarity of town proceedings.

It's one of the reasons the Niles Town Board meeting minutes, which are quickly posted to its Web site, are among the most thorough and organized based on a review of October meeting minutes in Cayuga County towns.

Minutes examined in Cayuga County vary from bare-bones copy in easy-to-read outline form to a narrative style demanding readers work to decipher decisions buried in long paragraphs.

One reason for the variety is the lack of specificity in the state law that requires minutes be recorded. Minutes of an open meeting must reflect motions, proposals and resolutions formally voted on and what the vote was. Discussions on matters before the board, or information presented to the board, does not have to be included.

Rebecca H. Hines, president of the New York State Town Clerks' Association, referred to a portion of the “Clerks' Guide,” a publication created and compiled by the New York State Association of Clerks of County Legislative Boards. Chapter IV addresses minute-taking but only includes the basics.

“We have found that our opinions and ways of preparing minutes vary widely across the state,” Hines said in an e-mail. “We have a few counties that take verbatim minutes, and others that only want to include the bare minimum. I personally try to find a happy medium, as I find it very beneficial to include some of the conversations.”

Open government advocates have pushed for more detailed and transparent record keeping, especially with the development of new technology.

“While the law contains the minimum requirements for minutes, they can include more detail,” said Robert Freeman, executive director of the state Committee on Open Government.

“There are ways that enable people to have a more complete record if they choose to,” he added. “Anybody can tape record or videotape a meeting, provided that it's not intrusive.”

He noted that municipalities statewide are increasingly broadcasting their meetings. State law actually allows a variety of ways to keep records, including tapes, but minutes are generally written.

Taping of meetings was an issue at a Montezuma Town Board meeting in June, when town board members voted to eliminate the tape that town clerk June Smith used to back up her notes. Town attorney Norman Chirco said there could be a discrepancy between the minutes and the tape, and that there is supposed to be only one official set of minutes.

“How could she (the town clerk) have a lesser right to record than a member of the public?” Freeman asked. “Every record is covered by the Freedom of Information Law. It's hard to understand.”

Freeman noted that the tape recording was being used “in order to insure the truth and accuracy.”

Other towns, including the town of Sennett, tape their meetings as a backup procedure, but not every meeting is taped, town clerk Penelope Dennis said.

Aurelius town clerk Debbie Pinckney actually types her minutes into the computer as a meeting is in progress (her deputy clerk, Barrie Lyn Foster, does the same thing).

“I take the agenda and put it on a laptop,” Pinckney said. “I'm a four-finger typist. If they change the agenda, I put 'out of order' in so people 50 years from now will be able to read the minutes and understand what went on.”

Pinckney can have the minutes done within three days, using her method. The law requires minutes be completed within two weeks of a meeting and within one week of an executive session, if a decision is made as a result.

“If I don't get it, I ask them (at the meeting),” she said. “It works better for me because all I have to do is put it on a disk drive.”

While a number of notetakers prefer to process information by hand, Pinckney's method would make uploading minutes easier and faster for clerks on the town's Web site.

Minutes on the town of Aurelius' Web site are not current, however. But that's the norm for towns in Cayuga County.

Niles and Scipio are the only two Cayuga County towns with minutes posted on town web pages from meetings held after Oct. 1. Nolte credited her webmaster, Joan Winker, with uploading all minutes on time.

The Open Meetings Law says that “minutes of open meetings of all public bodies shall be available to the pubic in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Law within two weeks from the date of the open meeting.”

But that doesn't necessarily mean on the Internet, and all town clerks in the county say minutes are available at the town halls on time.

The Committee on Open Government's 2007 report to the Governor recommended that certain records be posted online. The report mentioned a number of advantages to proactive disclosure, not the least of which is reducing administrative costs related to dealing with requests for records in the traditional way.

The committee encouraged the governor and legislature to amend FOIL by requiring agencies to post records on their Web sites that are clearly public and frequently requested when an agency has the ability to do so without undue burden or cost. A list of such records would include: agendas and minutes of meetings, recent audits, and contracts involving matters of public interest or importance.

Freeman said “proactive disclosure” was being encouraged by the state. “The (town) government on its own initiative can post the minutes for the public to see,” he said.

“It's a win-win situation when records are clearly public and easy to find,” Freeman said. “It should be required whether the Legislature does that (passes a law) or not.”

Staff writer Kathleen Barran can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 238 or kathleen.barran@lee.net