Members of the Barton County Commission are to be commended for a statement read by Commission Chairman Kenny Schremmer Monday morning. It was a mea culpa for violating the Kansas Open Meetings Act last week.
Following last Monday’s contentious commission meeting and the discussion over the replacement of the heating and air conditioning system at the Road and Bridge Department shop, three commissioners decided to visit the facility Tuesday morning and see for themselves what was involved in the project. All three arrived at different times, but their visits overlapped as they were given tours and talked with department personnel.
Present were commissioners Don Davis, Homer Kruckenberg and Chairman Kenny Schremmer. This meant three of the five commissioners were present at the same location dealing with county-related business.
According to the KOMA, any gathering of a majority of a public governing body that deals with business of that body constitutes a public meeting. There are some other guidelines, but generally speaking, this requires public notification prior to the gathering.
This did not happen last Tuesday morning. But, all three commissioners present stressed that their being at the same place at the same time was purely coincidental.
Inadvertent or not, KOMA was violated.
KOMA is intended to make sure government operates in the open. By getting ahead of the curve and bringing the matter up at a public meeting, the commission came clean.
By doing so, the commission kept this public faith intact.
Dale Hogg