Pueblog USa
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Not A Public Meeting???
Are Pueblo City Council Meetings Public Meetings?
I thought I’d take a moment to comment on recent remarks by Pueblo
City Council President Judy Weaver. She continues to claim, “This is
our meeting being held in public; it’s not a public meeting.”
Not a public meeting? How can this possibly be? Has she read
Colorado’s Sunshine Law? This is the portion of the Colorado Revised
Statutes dealing with open meeting requirements. It just so happens
that the opening three paragraphs tell us all that we need to know.
“Local public body” means any board, committee, commission, authority,
policy-making, rule-making, political subdivision of the state…
“Meeting” means any kind of gathering, convened to discuss public
business, in person, by telephone, electronically, or by other means
of communication.
“Political subdivision of the state” includes, but is not limited to,
any county, city, city and county, town, home rule city, home rule
county, home rule city and county, school district…
It is worth mentioning that I searched this document thoroughly and I
could not find a “This is Our Meeting” clause anywhere. I think it is
fair to conclude that Pueblo City Council meetings are in fact public
meetings.
Our local government should be a government of the people, by the
people, and for the people. Unfortunately, it seems that this
council is heading more towards government of the council, by the
council, and for the council.
Chris Nicoll
Pueblo Citizens for Open Government
http://www.pueblofreespeech.org