Trainer outlines Green River governance roles, ethics and open-meetings best practices

Galen, a contracted trainer, told the Green River City Council that the governing body's primary role is to "determine the ends" while the city administrator and staff "determine and carry out the means." The presentation covered statutory and charter forms of municipal government, Wyoming ethics statutes and best practices for meetings, public comment and minimizing personal liability.

Nut graf: The training focused on practical distinctions that affect day-to-day council conduct and legal exposure: who hires and disciplines staff, how council members should direct questions to the administrator, limits on informal communications among a quorum and how public comment should be handled to avoid creating legal or procedural problems.

Galen said Wyoming law and Green River's charter ordinance create a hybrid in which the mayor retains appointment and veto powers while the city administrator handles day-to-day personnel and operations. "The governing body determines the ends, and the city administrator and staff determine and carry out the means," he told the council.

He reviewed home-rule and statutory forms of municipal government, noting the mayor-council form, council-manager form and Green River's city-administrator form as variations with different appointment powers and operational responsibilities. He cited Title 15 and Wyoming's ethics statutes as statutory backstops and read portions of Green River's charter ordinance about communication through the city administrator.

Council members asked whether a majority could force an appointment. Galen replied that the governing body cannot directly appoint administrative personnel where the charter gives that authority to the mayor or administrator. He said: "There's no way for a majority of the council to make an appointment," and reiterated that individual council members do not have authority to direct staff outside the body acting collectively.

The presentation reviewed open-meetings rules: a quorum of four members (the council has six members plus a mayor) triggers open-meeting requirements; deliberations about city business must occur in a properly noticed public meeting; e-mail chains, group texts and sequential communications that aggregate to a quorum can violate the law. Galen emphasized that executive sessions are allowed for limited reasons but that no action may be taken in executive session.

On public comment and conduct, Galen advised that council members avoid engaging in back-and-forth exchanges with speakers and refrain from trying to have the "last word." He cautioned that public meetings can be a testing ground for First Amendment protections and that suppressing speech can be unlawful. "You always have the last word. You're the decider," he said, urging restraint in responses to public comment.

Galen linked conduct to liability: officials who act outside the scope of their authority risk losing immunity or coverage. He described the city's liability practice by example, saying the Local Government Liability Pool provided insurance and counsel in a past lawsuit where a mayor was sued in connection with law-enforcement actions.

Ending: Galen concluded by pointing council members to written materials in the meeting packet: verbatim provisions from the Wyoming Constitution, the charter ordinance, state ethics statutes (Title 15), and city ordinances. He recommended a council handbook or updated rules of procedure to set shared norms for decorum, public comment time limits and electronic-communications practices.