To the Editor:

This is the letter I have written to the Guilderland Town Board.

A Jan. 13, 2022, editorial in The Altamont Enterprise prompted our organization to view the video of the Guilderland Town Board meeting held on Jan. 3, 2022. It is clear from watching the meeting video that board members participated in a private meeting to discuss 31 appointments to town positions, prior to the Jan. 3 public meeting.

Supervisor [Peter] Barber stated that during the private meeting there were “spirited conversations” and that “we kept our cool.” Board member[Laurel] Bohl stated that some of the votes were 3 to 2. In the public meeting, all appointments were unanimously approved.

It is unfortunate that town board members were unwilling to have their “spirited” conversations in public so that people could observe the debate that took place between their elected representatives. Just because a conversation regarding appointments can be held behind closed doors does not mean that it has to or that it should.

There should not be a private meeting where dissenting votes occur without documentation and then a public meeting where items are approved unanimously.

Under the New York State Open Meetings Law, the proper way to hold an executive session is public notification of the meeting date and time. A motion for executive session must be made in public, with a reason for the executive session provided.

As the Enterprise editorial points out, notice of a meeting to discuss board appointments was not provided to the news media or posted on the Guilderland website. The Open Meetings Law requires that any votes taken in a private executive session must be documented in minutes that are posted online within seven days.

The Guilderland Town Board has violated the Open Meetings Law by holding an executive session without public notification and by not posting meeting minutes of the executive session voting within seven days.

Please immediately post minutes of the executive session as required by law, so that the public is informed as to how their elected officials voted in the privately held executive session.

Please conduct future executive sessions in accordance with the Open Meetings Law. The town board should consider completing training regarding the Open Meetings Law to avoid future violations.

An even better approach is to not hold an executive session and conduct your business in an open and transparent way so that the public can observe your “spirited” discussions, which is the whole point of the Open Meetings Law.

The New York State Legislature declared the following in the Open Meetings Law:

“It is essential to the maintenance of a democratic society that the public business be performed in an open and public manner and that the citizens of this state be fully aware of and able to observe the performance of public officials and attend and listen to the deliberations and decisions that go into the making of public policy. The people must be able to remain informed if they are to retain control over those who are their public servants. It is the only climate under which the commonweal will prosper and enable the governmental process to operate for the benefit of those who created it.”           

Paul W. Wolf, Esq.

President

New York Coalition

for Open Government