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Monroe County commissioners delay legal-opinion discussion after absences leave no supermajority
Summary
County legal counsel told commissioners the board cannot go into closed session to discuss a written attorney opinion without a six-vote supermajority; the investigation attorney said work exceeded the approved $70,000 budget and additional authorization is needed to finalize reports.
Anna Marie Osmond, Monroe County clerk, called the organizational meeting to order and the board moved through leadership elections before turning to public comment and an update on the special investigation.
Sarah Gavis, the attorney retained for the independent investigation, told the board the approved investigation budget was $70,000 and that $30,000 of that had been paid to a private investigator. "The remainder of the investigation, the remaining $40,000 was work done by me to review his reports, to review thousands and thousands of pages of documents," Gavis said, and she added there will be a small November invoice and additional January time if the board authorizes further work.
Chair David Venzl asked county counsel whether the board could move into closed session to discuss Gavis’s written legal opinion. County counsel Goldsmith replied that discussing a written attorney–client communication requires a supermajority: "there's no way possible to go into closed session because it does require 6 votes," he said. With only five commissioners present, Goldsmith advised the board to postpone closed-session deliberation to a later meeting when six votes could be obtained.
Goldsmith and Gavis both cautioned that portions of the written opinion may raise sensitive liability issues and that public discussion before receiving closed-session legal advice could create exposure. Gavis said commissioners may call her individually with confidential questions but warned that group deliberation of her legal opinion must occur in closed session.
Several commissioners expressed frustration that absences prevented action. Commissioner Brian Lamour said the board should "get this thing done" and pressed for the investigation to be resolved promptly. The board took no formal action on the investigative report at the meeting; instead counsel’s advice and the lack of a six-vote quorum mean the written opinion will be considered at a future properly attended meeting or otherwise handled according to counsel’s recommendations.
