Commission discusses open government

Fort Scott Mayor Dick Hedges, left, and City Attorney Bob Farmer, right, listen to Nathan Eberline, Intergovernmental Relations Associate with the League of Kansas Municipalities, Thursday during an educational meeting to discuss how to operate an open city government. (Michael Pommier/Tribune)

With the help of the League of Kansas Municipalities, the Fort Scott City Commission got a lesson in the workings of city governments.

Nathan Eberline, Intergovernmental Relations Associate with the League of Kansas Municipalities, met with the commission Thursday along with Fort Scott City Manager Dave Martin, Assistant City Manager Susan Brown, and City Attorney Bob Farmer to discuss the benefits of having an open government.

Eberline, who oversees the LKM's educational components as well as focusing on personnel and open meeting issues said that the use of executive sessions is often over utilized, and often used incorrectly.

"Executive session in one of the elements we see the most misuse of in cities," he said.

The most common misuse, according to Eberline, is calling an executive session for attorney-client issues. He said that too often a city council will call for an executive session to get the attorney's advice and discuss the issue in the executive session. The proper use of an executive session for attorney-client matters, he said, is when the city is acting as a client to the attorney in matters such as contract issues.

"There are really very few reasons for executive sessions," he said.

Eberline did state that there are some issues, such as personnel, which do require executive sessions.

Another misuse brought up by Eberline abstaining from a vote. He said that Kansas has said that an abstention vote should only be cast when the voter or his/her spouse has a financial interest in the topic of the vote. He added, there are some other instances that are often acceptable, such as when other family members of the voter are involved.

"That means that it puts uncomfortable pressure on you to vote, even if it's in a tough situation," he said.

Fort Scott City Commissioner Sam Mason mentioned one incident in which a gentleman contacted him prior to a meeting asking him to vote to accept his company's bid for a local project. He said that he abstained from the vote because he felt that it would be the best option. In that instance, Eberline said that Mason's decision was okay, however he should have announced, on the record during the meeting, that he had been contacted and that his vote would not reflect the conversation.

Eberline said, and Martin agreed, that communication is the key to a successful city government. He said that operating a city government should be like "playing poker with your cards in reverse." He added that city government is the most accessible form of government and that the city should give the citizens the opportunity to see everything that goes on.

"I find it refreshing to have that accountability of the citizens," Martin said.

Also part of the discussion was separating the roles of the commission and the city manager. Eberline said that the city manager should deal with the city's day-to-day operations while the commissions should deal with the policies. He said that it is the commission's responsibility to listen to the citizens, including the city employees, and advise the correct action that should be taken, whether that be talking to a department head or bringing it up in city commission meeting, or speaking with the city manager.