Wasilla planning commissioners receive refresher on Open Meetings Act, quasi‑judicial duties and upcoming Title 16 changes

City Attorney Jamie Wells and City Clerk Jennifer Newman led a Committee of the Whole training for the Wasilla Planning Commission on Jan. 29, 2025, that reviewed the Open Meetings Act, the difference between the commission's quasi‑judicial and legislative roles, rules on ex parte communications and how pending changes to Title 16 could alter notice and hearing procedures.

Wells told commissioners, "Public servants have not been given the right to decide what is good or not good for the people to know," and repeatedly urged developing an Open Meetings Act (OMA) "spidey sense" for when a discussion could become an unlawful meeting. On handling inadvertent off‑record contacts, Wells emphasized: "Cure, cure, cure," instructing commissioners that the statute provides steps to disclose and remedy disallowed contacts.

The training covered routine duties in the commission's code (reviewing the comprehensive plan, recommending rezones and deciding permit applications such as variances and conditional‑use permits) and stressed the difference between legislative matters (amending Title 16, the comp plan) and quasi‑judicial proceedings…