City attorney advises council that regular meetings must be held within city limits; out-of-town decision-making and email voting not allowed

Summary

City Attorney Danz told the council that holding a regular council meeting in The Bahamas or otherwise outside city limits would likely violate public-meeting laws and that decisions cannot be made by email; council action must be public and accessible and require a quorum present in person except in narrow emergency or public-health exceptions.

City Attorney Dan (Danz) advised the Venice City Council that the council may not hold a regular meeting outside the city limits and may not make official votes by email. The attorney summarized case law and statutory considerations, noting that public meetings must be held where citizens have reasonable opportunity to attend and that judicial precedent has found out-of-county workshops to violate public-meeting rules when they impede public access.

Danz told council that regular action requires attendance of a quorum (the attorney cited a four-of-seven threshold for official action) and that exceptions permitting remote action have been limited (for example, emergency pandemic-era rules). Based on the legal overview presented, the attorney concluded the council cannot lawfully hold a regular meeting in The Bahamas or conduct official action via email in August as suggested by the council’s earlier questions.

City Manager Wagner had nothing to add. The council did not take further action on the question at the meeting.