Tag Archive for Open Meetings Act

Governor Leading The Lawless

The side effects of having an unrepentant lawbreaker as a governor.

Something occurred to me this morning.

One of the ways in which government has been able to operate at a board level is by Zoom, of some other streaming service.  The problem with this however, was the ways in which the streaming option limited the ability of those who wish to attend meetings and keep government open and transparent.

The answer was Executive Order 2020-15.  EO 2020-15 changed the requirements of having the meetings, to allowing by remote access with limited public interaction:

Acting under the Michigan Constitution of 1963 and Michigan law, I order the following:

Effective immediately and continuing until April 15, 2020 at 11:59 pm, to the extent that the Open Meetings Act, 1976 PA 267, as amended, MCL 15.261 to 15.272 (“OMA”) requires that a meeting of a public body be held in a physical place available to the general public or requires the physical presence of one or more members of a public body, strict compliance with section 3 of the OMA, MCL 15.263, is temporarily suspended in order to alleviate any such physical-place or physical-presence requirements, as follows:

Etc., and so on.. (feel free to follow through and see the conditions)

The order allows forms of electronic meetings that would not otherwise be allowed under legislative authority without the power assumed by the governor.  It essentially kept local governments ability to operate under ‘stay home’ conditions that might arise.

You Betcha! (11)Nuh Uh.(0)

Harbor Beach Mayor fulfills legal requirements, tells public he’s a “nice guy” for doing so

Pious Harbor Beach Mayor Booms obeys Open Meeting Act and then tells the public how we should be thankful he's a nice guy for doing so.

Recently the Mayor of Harbor Beach told a member of the public during a public meeting:

When I allow people to speak during city council meetings, I do it because I’m a nice guy.

Harbor Beach Mayor Gary Booms

Harbor Beach Mayor Gary Booms

WRONG, Mr. Mayor don’t-know-the-law.  It’s a legal requirement.  In that spirit, I have decided to publish an email I recently sent “Gary” — so more light may be put upon his false self-virtue.  Below is that email:

Hi Gary,

I hope you don’t mind me calling you Gary. I don’t mind me calling you Gary, so we should be good.

I read a recent comment you made during a public meeting as Mayor.

One part of this caught my attention, aside from the fact you have no regards for an employee’s natural right to self-defense. It was:
Booms added, interrupting Armitage’s attempt at a question. “When I allow people to speak during city council meetings, I do it because I’m a nice guy.”
Let’s not make this about you and how nice and virtuous you are. Based on what I’ve read about your respect for Casey’s rights, I’ll go ahead and assume you’re not really that virtuous. Anyhow…
You don’t let people speak in public comment because you’re a nice guy. You let people speak because the Michigan Open Meetings Act requires that you let them speak.
(5) A person shall be permitted to address a meeting of a public body under rules established and recorded by the public body. The legislature or a house of the legislature may provide by rule that the right to address may be limited to prescribed times at hearings and committee meetings only.
A professional tip: if you’re going to extol your virtues, it shouldn’t be over something the law requires you to do. That just seems tacky and insults the intelligence of anyone who is informed.
Kindly,
Phillip Hofmeister
My hope is to reach nearly every voter in Harbor Beach, to let them know what a self-righteous and pompous guy their Mayor is.
You Betcha! (36)Nuh Uh.(4)