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Council considers clarified council-staff communication policy and open-meetings refresher
Summary
Staff proposed suggested language for council-staff communication to ensure the town manager and entire council are kept informed; clerk's office reviewed open meetings/public records practices and urged annual AG training and use of FOIA tools.
Town staff presented draft language and reminders about council-staff communication and open-government obligations at the Dec. 18 meeting, emphasizing that the manager should be looped into staff interactions and that records and ethics procedures must be followed.
The town manager (Amy referenced) and staff proposed suggested policy language to balance personal relationships in a small community with the charter—s organizational structure, asking that issues brought by council members be routed through or shared with the manager to protect staff and ensure consistent information flow.
The clerk—s office reviewed open meetings and public-records basics, warning about the risks of a "rolling forum" (serial one-on-one conversations that effectively form a quorum) and confirming that council communications and records are public records. The clerk noted the town—s adoption of a cloud-based FOIA tool (JustFOIA) to improve responsiveness to requests and suggested that council members use town email rather than private accounts for town business.
Finally, the clerk and legal counsel recommended annual training from the Attorney General—s office on open meetings and public records; counsel said he would share state training materials with council members.
Why it matters: clarifying communication and records practices reduces legal risk, improves public transparency and protects staff from inadvertent direction or record-exposure.
