Library board gets Open Meetings Act training; meeting ends early after quorum lost

Los Alamos County Library Board members received a training on the state Open Meetings Act and the Inspection of Public Records Act from Deputy County Attorney Katie Thwaites, and later closed the meeting after losing quorum.

The board opened with a quorum, approved last month’s minutes by voice vote, and then began the scheduled training. "They require that public business be done in the full public view," Thwaites said, explaining that the laws—often called "sunshine laws"—require deliberations and official acts of public bodies to be open to the public.

Thwaites told members the same rules apply to the library board. She said a lawful public meeting requires four elements: a quorum (a majority of appointed members), notice, an agenda with enough specificity for the public to decide whether to attend, and minutes produced and made available after the meeting. "Once you have 3 and you're discussing, business of the library board, then we have to only do that in a public meeting," she said, noting that for a five‑member board the quorum is three but that the quorum is calculated as a majority of the board's appointed seats when vacancies exist.

The presenter also covered the Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA), noting public records must generally be available for inspection subject to narrow exceptions (for example, HIPAA‑protected material or Social Security numbers). She said minutes must include the date, time and place of the meeting, attendance, votes taken and a summary of discussions and must be presented for approval at the next meeting within ten working days.

Thwaites warned board members about walking and rolling quorums and about discussing board business by email. "Once we have, for this board, 3 members on an email discussing library board, business, then we could be violating the Open Meetings Act," she said, and recommended routing substantive materials through the staff liaison to avoid inadvertent reply‑all discussions. She added that one‑way communications (for example, a member sending an article to staff for distribution) are permitted so long as there is no group discussion outside a public meeting.

Midway through the presentation, a member disconnected and the chair announced the board no longer had a quorum. The group paused while members attempted to contact the missing member but ultimately closed the meeting. The chair said the meeting was closed at 6:09 p.m. "We're gonna close the meeting at 06:09, due to loss of quorum, and we will follow‑up via email to figure out a time to reschedule a special meeting so that we can get a quorum, our speakers, and a space, and 72 hours notice," the chair said.

Before the training began, the board approved the minutes from last month by voice vote. The chair asked for a motion and received a second; the motion carried with all members present voting in favor. The board did not take other formal actions because it ended early.

Board members said they will coordinate by email and consider a special meeting or a doodle poll to identify a date and time that secures a quorum and presenter availability. Thwaites told the board a special meeting requires at least 72 hours' public notice and reiterated the county practice of posting agendas and, where available, agenda packets to help the public participate.