Crawford County Commission Hears Concerns Over Minutes

Crawford County commissioners on Tuesday said they would look at streaming weekly meetings to the Internet and discussed the possibility of bringing aboard a secretary to record minutes.

The conversations stemmed from resident Cindy Redburn, who questioned why the meeting’s minutes and agendas were not regularly posted online.

Redburn has been a frequent critic of Clerk John Martin, and their interaction on Tuesday led to Martin excusing himself from the meeting and turning over the duty of taking minutes to the commission.

Presiding Commissioner Steve Black wound up taking minutes.

Martin has pointed out there is nothing that statutorily requires him to sit and take meetings, which has been confirmed by the prosecuting attorney’s office.

Redburn said when she started attending commission meetings last May, she noticed that agendas were not always posted on time, that three weeks worth of meeting minutes were being approved at once and there was no online source for information.

Martin and the commission defended his release of minutes, saying there was no timeframe.

Last summer, Redburn contacted the attorney general’s office to discuss the Sunshine Law and found that Martin was correct.

The county has since updated its website and posted past minutes, but only going back to Feb. 28, which Redburn took issue with.

Martin stood up and said that Redburn could take minutes, then motioned to hand his notepad over. He then put the pad on the commission’s desk and left.

Redburn said Martin leaving “is one of the reasons it’s difficult to come here and speak.”

She continued, asking if the commission puts together the agenda. 

Black said the clerk types it up, but they can have him add items to it if necessary.

Redburn also criticized the county for not doing more to inform residents that the April 4 meeting, which fell on municipal election day, was canceled.

The county does not hold meetings on Election Day, which Redburn didn’t realize until she showed up that morning.

“There was no announcement that there was no meeting,” she said. “This is not the way it should be done.”

Black said that the commission is not Martin’s supervisor and that they wouldn’t be speaking for him.

“You are the body,” Redburn said. “I want John Martin to be reasonable. A failure to publish an agenda is a Sunshine Law violation. Mr. Martin is violating the law.”

Black asked the other two commissioners if they should hire someone to take minutes.

District 2 Commissioner Jared Boast said that task could be part of some sort of administrative role, one that also deals with emergency management.

He also said that posting minutes and agendas to the web is a new concept within the county. 

“I don’t know who is posting to the web,” he said. “Maybe we should try to figure out what this position looks like.”

Boast said that Martin assumes a lot of duties and he does more than he is statutorily required to do. 

“His priorities do not always align with the perceived obligations of the citizens,” Boast said. The commission did not downplay the importance of making sure the public has access to records, but that if water is leaking into a county building, the clerk is more concerned with fixing it rather than publishing content on the website.

Streaming

A week earlier, commissioners were asked if they would start streaming meetings to Facebook or YouTube.

Commissioners were open to the idea, but wanted to run through the specifics with the prosecuting attorney’s office.

Black said he talked to Brian Andrews in IT and that the cost of a camera and computer would cost around $2,000.

The camera would automatically focus on whoever is speaking at the meeting.

Boast said that he still wants it reviewed by the prosecuting attorney’s office and that they would need to figure out who controls the camera. The camera would need to be shut off for closed session.

Resident Paul Satterfield asked how the county would maintain the videos for public records requests, which is another item the commission must tackle. While streaming to YouTube can mean the videos are hosted for an indefinite amount of time, the commission was unclear if they had to be maintained another way.