“There is a lot of stuff that goes on behind closed doors within the county that is county business that people don't see.”
Thus spoke Linn County Commission Chair Danny McCullough on Monday, Aug. 5. He was getting testy after listening to several complaints during the citizens’ forum portion of the weekly commission meeting.
His words seem ironic in light of recently revealed information that over the past few weeks he allegedly was sending text messages to fellow Commission Jim Johnson and commission candidate Rod Earnest. That came to light following a Kansas Open Records Act (KORA) request filed by the Linn County Journal for text messages and emails between commissioners and a handful of citizens who have been vocal in trying to shape public policy.
We at the Journal made the request for two reasons. First, we noticed a pattern of one commissioner seeming to anticipate the actions of another. Second, we noticed that commissioners were sending and receiving texts to people during open meetings.
We also knew that, if that was the case, it was apparent that those texts emails were a violation of the Kansas Open Meetings Act (KOMA).
As a trusted news source for the Linn County community, we would not be doing our job if we didn’t point out when public officials make mistakes. Granted, some mistakes are minor. Others, not so much.
KOMA violations occur from time to time, usually because a minor mistake is made. County commission, city councils, school boards and even county committees like the planning and zoning commission are subject to KOMA rules. Here is a better explanation of KOMA by the Kansas Legislative Research Department: https://klrd.org/publications/briefing-book-2021/kansas-open-meetings-act.
Often times, a minor mistake, usually involving a misinterpretation of a reason for going into an executive session or too many council members showing up at function, is reason for an alert citizen to file a complaint. The result is city council members being treated to a lengthy workshop on KOMA by an official from the Kansas Attorney General’s office.
But in this case, the violation is more serious.
This appears to be an attempt by two county officials to make decisions outside the context of an open meeting. All three commissioners are well aware of the KOMA requirements, and this is not a simple, one-time mistake but rather a conscious decision to violate the state statute.
Maybe the public is beginning to realize how much happens behind closed doors, and the people who are responsible for violating and upholding state law should be held accountable.
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