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Home My WebLink AboutItem 02 Public Records and Meeting Law Update AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY Meeting Date: 9/10/2018 Meeting Type: Work Session Staff Contact/Dept.: Mary Bridget Smith Staff Phone No: 541-744-4061 Estimated Time: 30 Minutes S P R I N G F I E L D C I T Y C O U N C I L Council Goals: Mandate ITEM TITLE: PUBLIC RECORDS AND MEETINGS LAW UPDATE ACTION REQUESTED: Provide information to Council about public records and meetings law. ISSUE STATEMENT: The purpose of this work session is to give the Council an update on the current law and best practices involving public records and meetings. ATTACHMENTS: Attachment 1: PowerPoint presentation DISCUSSION/ FINANCIAL IMPACT: The purpose of this work session is to discuss recent developments in the areas of public records and meetings and discuss strategies to minimize the Council’s potential legal liability in connection with these areas of Oregon law. N:\OneDrive for Business\Linda\Forms\Agenda Item Summary AIS Template Goals.docx Springfield City Council September 10, 2018 Public Meetings Public Employee Political Activity City Councils and Unfair Labor Practices Attachment 1, Page 1 of 6 Public Meetings •TriMet v. Amalgamated Transit Union Local 757, 362 Or 484 (2018) •Governing bodies to not need to convene a “meeting” to “meet” •Beware of serial communications, social media posts, emails, texts, etc. •Agenda review is still okay so long as it is kept to just a review of the upcoming agenda •No more 2-on-2s Attachment 1, Page 2 of 6 Public Employee Political Activity •Elected officials MAY engage in political activity •Elected officials CANNOT request public employees who are on the job or acting in an official capacity to engage in political advocacy •Public employees may use their work time for some activity such as arranging a candidate forum, formatting a resolution, answering straightforward questions, etc. Attachment 1, Page 3 of 6 City Councils and Unfair Labor Practices •Can a City Council commit an unfair labor practice? YES! •AFSCME Council 75 v. City of Lebanon, 360 Or 809 (2017) •City Councilor wrote a letter to the editor where she encouraged city employees to decertify their union. She signed the letter as a Councilor, but stated she was acting in her individual capacity. •Oregon Supreme Court found that City of Lebanon could be held responsible for unfair labor practices committed by City Councilors when employees of that public employer would “reasonably believe that a given individual acted on behalf of the public employer.” Attachment 1, Page 4 of 6 City Councils and Unfair Labor Practices •The factors the Court looked to were: •high ranking position of the individual within the public entity •individual’s general policy making authority •likelihood that employees would reasonably believe that the individual acted on behalf of the entity •whether individual acted in their official capacity •whether individual has power to hire and fire employees •whether public entity disavowed actions of the individual Attachment 1, Page 5 of 6 Questions / Resources League of Oregon Cities 1201 Court Street NE, Suite 200, Salem, OR 97301 www.orcities.org Oregon Government Ethics Commission 3218 Pringle Rd. SE, Suite 220, Salem, OR 97302 www.oregon.gov/OGEC Attachment 1, Page 6 of 6