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2004 Rhode Island Attorney General Reports and Opinions 1 (2004)

handle is hein.sag/sagri0001 and id is 1 raw text is: OM 04-01 March 5, 2004 Mr. Paul DiModica Cumberland, RI 02864 RE: DiModica v. Cumberland Fire District Dear Mr. DiModica: The investigation into your Open Meetings Act [OMA] complaint against the Cumberland Fire District [District] is complete. By letter dated July 17, 2003, you allege the District violated the OMA by conducting elections of officers and appointments of committee chairpersons without posting the elections on the agenda.... In support of your complaint, you submitted the agenda from the July 17, 2003, meeting, which confirms that no elections were noted in the public notice. We have received a response from Albert West, Esq., legal counsel for the District. That response was accompanied by an affidavit from Marcel Bacon, Chairperson of the District's Board of Commissioners. Mr. Bacon confirms that the election was not listed on the agenda for the meeting by oversight. He goes on to explain that upon being notified that an OMA complaint had been filed, a subsequent meeting was scheduled, at which the election of Chair and Assistant Chair and Appointed Committee Members was listed on the properly posted agenda for a meeting scheduled for August 1, 2003. The August 1st notice and minutes confirm this account. The OMA requires that at least 48 hours before a meeting a public body post notice that includes the date the notice was posted, the date, time and place of the meeting, and a statement specifying the nature of the business to be discussed. R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-46-6(b). Because the District did not indicate in its public notice that elections would be conducted at its July 17, 2003, meeting, it was not permitted to conduct these elections. By doing so, it violated the OMA.