According to open meetings experts, the Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau illegally closed its April session to discuss two issues that should have been discussed openly.
The board voted to go into executive session to talk about two issues, one involving personnel and the other prospective litigation — both legitimate reasons for closing a meeting.
But at its meeting Monday, board members said they discussed a third issue, in violation of laws that say boards can only discuss the issues that sent them into closed session. Board members also said the potential litigation issue was really a billing issue with former board member and attorney David Sanders.
The third issue, which came up while board members were talking about a separate personnel issue, was about missing items taken by former Executive Director James Tsismanakis, said Interim Director Nancy Carpenter.
Tsismanakis, who is no longer employed by the CVB, has promised to return the items, which he thought were his to take.
The board rescinded a motion Monday that had been made in closed session April 25 to send a letter to Sanders, an attorney at Mitchell, McNutt & Sams law firm, asking for a refund for some legal work he did on the new CVB office.
Board members, who also questioned the ethics of his doing the work while a board member, said Monday that he had not completed three tasks necessary to close the new building at College Street and Third Street.
Sanders, who billed the CVB about $17,000 for work he did while on the board, said he did or was doing all of the work he had been asked to do when attorney David Dunn took over negotiations.
There was also some confusion about whether the minutes reflected that Sanders had been hired. Boards can only act through their minutes, according to state law, meaning that if the minutes do not show Sanders was hired, he wasn”t officially on the job.
Board Chairwoman Whirllie Byrd brought the issue up again Monday because, as she said after the meeting, it wasn”t something that should have been discussed in closed session.
The prospective litigation exception to the open meetings laws can only be used when litigation is “reasonable” or “likely to occur in the foreseeable future,” according to a 1983 Supreme Court opinion in a lawsuit against Vicksburg.
According to attorneys at the Mississippi Center for Freedom of Information, the CVB was not facing potential litigation from Sanders, who wasn”t aware of the letter until he received a call Tuesday from The Dispatch.
Even though the board is new, the mistake could be costly if the state Ethics Commission finds they violated open meetings laws.
Under current laws, a public body who violated open meetings laws can be fined up to $100 per violation. Those fines will be increased to between $500 and $1,000 and shifted to the individual beginning July 1.
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