Important Information on Open Meetings Protocols

[Andy Weakland]

Dear Larimer County Ag Advisory Board Members,

I am reaching out to share an important message from the Larimer County Board of County Commissioners. The Board has requested that the following document regarding Open Meetings protocols be distributed to each county board, commission, and council to ensure clarity on best practices and protocols:

“The Board of County Commissioners would like this document regarding Open Meetings to be distributed to each county board/commission/council to ensure a clear understanding of protocols and best practices. We understand that questions have arisen about work that Board members may or may not be able to conduct between formal AAB meetings, and this document provides some helpful guidance on that subject. We'll plan to have some time on the November meeting agenda to review this document and have a short discussion as needed.”

Please take a few moments to review the document before our November meeting, where we’ll set aside time for any questions or a brief discussion.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter, and please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any immediate questions.

Best regards,
Andy

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	Andy Weakland Business Operations Manager
	Larimer County CSU Extension Office 1525 Blue Spruce Drive, Fort Collins, CO 80524 W: (970) 498-6002 weak...@co.larimer.co.us| www.larimer.org/extension

An equal-access and equal-opportunity University. https://col.st/ll0t3 

[Audrey Welsh]

Hi Andy,

Taking off the Board to ensure I’m complying with any protocols ---

Would you be able to provide the Board with a bit more details on where this file is located publicly on the County’s website? As of now, this looks like just an unofficial document that fails to have any identifiers such as the County’s logo or any material sourcing associated with it. Additionally, there are no signatures from the County Commissioners on this guide to verify the information provided to us.

Some of the language used within this guide contradicts what is on the Colorado General Assembly website and is a cause for more confusion. If you could provide us with more materials for us to review, I will feel better about what questions to bring to the next meeting. 

Thank you kindly!

Cheers,
Audrey

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[Audrey Welsh]

Hi John!

Thank you for this clarity. And, for being so proactive with what you were tasked with!!

One thing I would like to request within this document is what we can do outside of the AAB meetings. As it’s written now, it seems like a lot of red tape that would be challenging for any working groups to operate, and so suggestions of how to navigate this would be helpful to include within the document, or rather, writing out what we can do in plain terms. As of now, it seems a bit disabling to remain functional. So, if there was a streamline way we can be more functional, while abiding any sunshine meeting laws, I’d love to learn more about that. 

As of now, I even have concerns responding to any email I receive by the AAB as last time I did, I was told I was in violation of the sunshine meeting laws. It makes it hard to be an active board member when the red tape is still unclear to what I can do. 

Cheers,

Audrey

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From: John Kefalas <kefa...@co.larimer.co.us>
Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2024 2:05:21 PM
To: Audrey Welsh <aud...@rekaivery.com>
Cc: Andy Weakland <weak...@co.larimer.co.us>; Cary Weiner <wein...@co.larimer.co.us>
Subject: Re: Important Information on Open Meetings Protocols

 

Hello Audrey,

Thank you for your follow-up inquiry after reviewing the open meeting guide - "When do Meetings & Discussions Need to Comply with Open Meeting Laws?". Our county attorney prepared this 1-page unofficial document at my request and after the meeting we had to discuss the ongoing need to clarify how open meeting laws apply to boards, commissions, subcommittees and working groups. The County had something similar that applied to the commissioners (BoCC) that had been prepared in the past, and our county attorney took that template, updated the document and made it relevant to boards and commissions. We agreed that it would be helpful to have a one-pager that members could reference rather than go to the updated 2/24 Boards and Commissions Policies document. As you may recall, this has been an ongoing AAB issue, and at our last meeting I was charged with finding a way to clarify how subcommittees could meet in accordance with sunshine meeting laws. The takeaway  is that if there are three or more members or a quorum, whichever is smaller, that are meeting to discuss county business within the purview of the board/commission then the meeting should be posted. My understanding is that the staff liaisons were to post this on the different websites. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. 

	John Kefalas (he/him) County Commissioner, District 1
	Commissioners' Office 200 W Oak St | 2nd Floor PO Box 1190, Fort Collins, CO 80522-1190 W: (970) 498-7001 Cell:  (720) 254-7598 jkef...@larimer.org | www.larimer.org