By Dewey Terrill
JC Post
Junction City Commissioners and select staff are expected to meet in June for about one hour before a regular commission meeting to hold remedial training. It will deal with making motions under the Kansas Open Meetings Act to go into executive session. The plan is to try and bring in outside counsel to conduct the training.
The Kansas Attorney's General's Office declined to pursue formal enforcement action following their recent decision that there were technical violations of the Kansas Open Meetings Act by a former Junction City Commission. But they did ask for remedial action to resolve the issue.
They provided a letter noting the city commission’s failure to comply with the statutory requirements for recessing into executive session when it did not include the subject to be discussed in its March 1, 2022, motion, and other motions for executive session were mere technical violations of the KOMA that did not affect the public’s substantial rights. The pattern of deficient motions showed a need for remedial action.
Members of the commission at the time included Pat Landes, Ronna Larson, Matthew Bea, Jeff Underhill and Nate Butler. Butler and Bea have since left the governing body. All five members of the current city commission have been encouraged by the city attorney to attend the remedial training session.
Even though public concern about a proposed slaughterhouse led to the A-G's Office investigation, City manager Allen Dinkel has observed that the March 1, 2022 executive session actually dealt with possible purchase of a building for the city's Public Works Department.