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Council minutes approval marked by member’s claim her votes were recorded incorrectly
Summary
During approval of prior meeting minutes, a council member said her votes were recorded incorrectly and asked the record to show she did not vote yes on several items; town counsel advised recording votes as they were heard and allowing the member to make her statement part of the minutes.
A dispute over how votes were recorded at a prior joint meeting with the Planning Commission surfaced as councilors approved previous minutes.
One council member said she was recorded as voting yes on several motions that she said she did not support; she asked that the minutes reflect that she did not vote yes and in some cases abstained. The clerk and town counsel recommended recording the minutes as the clerk heard them and advised that the member could make her official position known at the current meeting so the minutes could include her statement.
Town counsel (via a referenced contact, Michelle Gowdy of VML) recommended retaining the roll-call record as recorded and offering the member an opportunity to make a statement to be included in the minutes. Councilors discussed how special meetings are limited to advertised topics and concurred with leaving formal corrections to the record in the minutes for clarity. The council voted to approve the minutes as presented and to note the member’s objection and intent to submit an attestation to be recorded in the next set of minutes.
No further disciplinary action occurred at the meeting; the council agreed to follow counsel’s recommendation and to clarify the minutes in the next meeting’s record if the member files a written statement.
