McAlester council votes to enter executive session over pending claim involving Kallax Energy

The McAlester City Council on a special meeting evening voted to recess into an executive session to receive confidential communication from the city attorney about a pending claim against Kallax Energy.

The chair opened the meeting at 6:16 p.m. and asked Cora to call the roll. After confirming a quorum, the chair told the council it would "recess the council meeting" and asked for a motion "to enter into executive session in compliance with section title 25 3 0 7, state statutes pursuant to oh, I guess that's 4 b," adding the stated purpose: to "receive confidential communication from the city attorney concerning a pending claim against Kallax Energy and take appropriate action in executive session." The phrasing of the statute was taken from the meeting record as spoken and appears in the transcript in that form.

Counselor Stone moved to go into executive session; Counselor Boatwright seconded the motion. The chair called a roll-call vote. The recorded responses on the motion were: Counselor Stone — "Yes"; Counselor Boatwright — "Yes"; Counselor Woodley — "Yes"; Counselor Beatty — "Yes" (the transcript later records this voice as "Bady" in one line); and the Mayor — "Yes." The chair then stated, "We're now in executive session." No public deliberation on the claim occurred after the vote; the meeting record shows the council recessed into closed session for attorney communication.

The action recorded in the public meeting was limited to the motion, second and unanimous roll-call approval to enter executive session. The council did not disclose the content of the confidential communication, nor did the public record show any substantive public action on the underlying claim against Kallax Energy during the open session. The council indicated the matter would be handled in closed session under the cited statute.

The council took no further public votes before going into executive session, and the public portion of the meeting ended with the recess into closed session. Any subsequent actions or formal decisions regarding the claim, if taken in executive session, were not part of the public transcript.