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Cast all votes in public view

If the past month has taught us anything, it’s that unexpected things happen, and all of the best-laid plans can be scrapped in the blink of an eye.

So it’s understandable that business requiring action by the Alpena County Board of Commissioners could arise unexpectedly, requiring decisions to be made before the next regularly scheduled board meeting.

We are discouraged, however, that the county board has sometimes decided to address those issues through so-called “poll votes” that happen outside of a public meeting. Essentially, if a pressing matter arises between board meetings, commissioners speak via phone or email to gauge commissioners’ support for one action or another so county staff can act without waiting for the next board meeting.

Since January 2019, the county board has conducted 19 poll votes, Steve Schulwitz reported in a Monday story.

There appears to be nothing nefarious in the county’s use of poll votes. The board gives final approval to its decisions in public at its next meeting, and those votes all are recorded in meeting agendas and minutes.

Still, Michigan’s Open Meetings Act is meant to guarantee all elected officials’ decision-making and discussion happens in full view of the public, so voters and taxpayers can gauge the wisdom of those decisions for themselves. If the board’s use of poll votes is not a violation of that law (though it could be, as the Michigan Attorney General’s Office says a “round-the-horn process” is illegal), it violates the spirit of the law.

And the Open Meetings Act accounts for the unexpected. Boards can schedule emergency meetings that require only 18 hours’ notice to the public.

We encourage the Alpena County board to make better use of such emergency meetings and rely less on decisions that happen in private.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)

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