Elected officials have duty to attend meetings, opinion says

WASILLA - If she had to do it again, city councilwoman Colleen Sullivan-Leonard says she would attend - but still object to the ethical necessity of - an executive session that dealt with a personal issue between two council members.

While Sullivan-Leonard said she didn't have a satisfactory answer about the subject of the closed-door session or why it pertained to city business, an independent legal opinion of the situation concludes she should have attended, despite her objections.

"A council member's refusal to attend a properly scheduled and noticed meeting of the council is contrary to the council member's duty as an elected official," wrote Thomas F. Klinkner, an attorney with the Anchorage law firm of Birch Horton Bittner and Cherot. "I also conclude that a council member ordinarily has the same duty to attend an executive session ... approved by a majority of the council."

After reading Klinkner's opinion, Sullivan-Leonard said she appreciates getting an independent analysis.

"As a council member, I believe it is my duty to stand up for my principles and beliefs," she said. "However, I do appreciate the opinion from Mr. Klinkner, and after reading the opinion I believe I would have chosen to go into the executive session, whether the executive session was right or wrong."

The question arose Nov. 28, 2011, when Sullivan-Leonard refused to attend an executive session, after the council voted 4-2 to adjourn to a closed-door meeting to discuss a Facebook post one council member made about another.

Sullivan-Leonard and councilwoman Leone Harris were the two dissenting votes. Harris went into the executive session with the rest of the council, but left before it was adjourned.

Sullivan-Leonard also said that, while the council passed a majority vote to hold the session, she doesn't think she or the public had enough information to justify it.

"The general public and I were still not given enough information to deem the necessity for an executive session," she said. "Without that information, I believed that I was going into an improper meeting, or secret meeting, which goes against the Open Meetings Act."

Councilwoman Taffina Katkus said she sought advice from the city's attorney prior to calling for the executive session. The council also had legal representation at the Nov. 28 meeting.

This issue may have died there, but councilman Steve Menard blasted Sullivan-Leonard and Harris at a Dec. 12 council meeting.

The council took a proper vote to adjourn to an executive session and, as such, all council members have a sworn duty to attend, he said.

In response to Klinkner's opinion, Menard said that, while a tiff over a Facebook post may seem trivial, it sets a bad precedent if elected officials pick and choose which meetings they want to attend based on personal feelings about the subject matter of those meetings.

"You have a duty to go in there, absolutely," Menard said. "Unless you have a conflict of interest and the council approves that conflict and you're excused, you have to attend and participate in executive session. ... I think it's a huge deal. My reaction (at the time) was just like everybody else's at the table. Refusal to go into executive session? I've never heard of that. Once that door is opened, what's to stop a councilperson in the future to just refuse to go or just walk out of a meeting?"

A two-time councilman, Menard also is the subject of a Feb. 7 recall election sparked by his behavior last August at a Sitka hotel while on city business. Sullivan-Leonard has been a vocal critic of Menard's actions and signed the recall petition.

Asked if his criticism relates to Sullivan-Leonard's position on his recall, Menard said he would have the same reaction if anyone on the council had refused to attend an executive session.

Menard also said that while he paid the city back more than $1,700 for damage to his hotel room and expenses for the trip, he believes Sullivan-Leonard should pay back the $225 stipend council members receive for attending regular meetings.

"What I hope comes out of this is a public apology by Colleen saying she overreacted," he said.

Menard said he's not perfect, but his attendance record is solid.

"I go to executive sessions, I don't leave meetings early," he said. "Regardless of my conduct down in Sitka, I attend meetings."

Sullivan-Leonard said that, in addition to her sworn duties as an elected office, she also has an obligation to do what's right, whether it's a popular decision or not.

"My actions from the (Nov. 28) meeting certainly were not egregious or malicious in nature," she said. "I am not the first, nor the last, member of a board or council to not attend an executive session based on principles or beliefs. It happens. I am a conscientious and engaged member of the council. I have not neglected my duties as a council member. On the contrary, I have worked faithfully and dutifully to fulfill my obligations to the citizens of Wasilla. To insinuate otherwise is just nonsense."

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.