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Council approves Open Meetings clarification; members seek FOIA protections
Summary
The Council approved technical clarifications to the Open Meetings Clarification Amendment Act (Bill 20‑62‑08), removing language that would treat email exchanges as 'meetings' while members confirmed this does not limit FOIA access to responsive records.
The Council approved an amendment to the Open Meetings Clarification Amendment Act clarifying that email messages are not themselves considered "meetings" under the Open Meetings Act. Councilmember Allen asked whether removing the language could be read to foreclose Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests; the Chair and Council counsel confirmed that FOIA remains applicable and the change does not affect FOIA rights to records responsive to requests.
The clarifying amendment was accepted; the bill passed as amended. The assistant secretary recorded several 'no' votes for the final tally (assistant secretary reported Councilmembers Allen and Lewis George as voting no; Tran White was recorded as present). Members characterized the amendment as word‑smithing and non‑substantive but sought to be explicit that FOIA remedies remain available for email records.
