By Ally Lanasa, Staff Writer

(Nov. 5, 2020) Mayor Zackery Tyndall and the new Berlin council members discussed with town staff the protocols of the various types of meetings they will participate in during an orientation work session on Oct. 21.

Mary Bohlen

Deputy Town Administrator Mary Bohlen said the mayor and council will participate in regular meetings, public hearings, executive sessions, work sessions and town hall meetings.

“Public hearings in mayor and council are a legal requirement in certain instances,” Bohlen said.

She continued that public hearings are mandatory whenever an ordinance is adopted, with the exception of an emergency ordinance, as well as certain resolutions.

Responding to Tyndall’s question, Bohlen said he is supposed to ask for comments from county or state elected officials at the end of public hearings.

As for executive sessions, the public does not participate.

“On occasion, we meet in closed session, and we’re only allowed to do that if we’re going to discuss certain topics, like personnel matters or if you need legal advice, purchase or sell a piece of real estate or negotiating with a company and we’re going to discuss our negotiating strategies [and] goals” said Dave Gaskill, the town’s attorney for 14 years, early in the work session. “When we meet in closed session, it means just that. You cannot, after the meeting, divulge anything that has been discussed, be it with your spouse, your significant other, your best friend. You can’t do that, and I can’t stress enough how important it is to keep in mind that when we meet in closed session you cannot divulge what we discuss.”

Bohlen reiterated Gaskill’s statements about the importance of confidentiality.

She said executive sessions protect the privacy of third parties.

“Anything that is decided on to move forward in executive session will then be discussed in public,” Bohlen added. “So, even if it’s discussed in executive, it does end up in front of the public at some point.”

Also, items that are not on the agenda for an executive session cannot be discussed at that closed meeting.

Tyndall also said when an executive session is appropriate, the request will be made from the dais.

“The reason that we’re going to meet, the proposed reason why we’re going to meet in executive, will be read from there and we’ll take a motion to go into executive from the dais, at which time we’ll go into the conference room and then, we’ll come back out here when we’re done.”

Bohlen added that the change will begin post-covid.

She also said work sessions are primarily scheduled for trainings and discussion, but they are never for decision-making.

“It can be a discussion that leads up to a decision, but the decision cannot be made at the work session,” Bohlen said.

Lastly, town meetings provide an opportunity for Berlin citizens to converse informally with elected officials.

In addition, the mayor and council discussed adapting a more formal version of “Robert’s Rules of Order,” which would involve a second motion.

“I think that would be our major deviation from what we do now, would just be asking for that second” Tyndall said. “I think that it will add some clarity to the way we do business, and I know some of us are more familiar with ‘Robert’s’ than others, but I think that the big change would be calling for a second for each motion.”

Bohlen added that each step allows a motion to move forward or die.

Town Administrator Jeff Fleetwood also reminded Tyndall to ask for comments from the public and press after all

Jeff Fleetwood

items on the agenda have been addressed.

Then, Fleetwood read the Open Meetings Act’s definition of “to meet”: “convene a quorum of a public body to consider or transact public business.”

“The act does not apply to a chance encounter, a social gathering or other occasion that is not intended to circumvent the act,” he continued reading.

Fleetwood reminded the mayor and council to not discuss business or set up a meeting amongst themselves as a group of three or more because those scenarios classify as quorums.

Bohlen added that Gaskill informed the town officials after the election not to debate anything via email.

“When you reply to emails, typically it’s best to reply just to the person,” said Administrative Manager Kelsey Jensen. “Don’t reply all and start a chatter on it. That’s a meeting.”

At-Large Councilmember Jay Knerr and District 3 Councilmember Shaneka Nichols mentioned that David Fitzgerald, the president of the Berlin Fire Company, invited the elected officials for a tour, which would classify as a meeting.

Tyndall responded that they plan to reschedule the tour when all members of the council can attend. He added that the press will be invited as well for more transparency.

Tyndall and Fleetwood are responsible for developing the agenda for all meetings, then Jensen prepares the packets for the officials and the public.

Content for the packets are due by Wednesday at noon for regular meetings.

“We like to get them posted to the website by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, the Wednesday preceding the Monday meeting,” Bohlen said.

Fleetwood told the elected officials that the packets they receive are different than what the public receives.

He and Jensen reminded them that sometimes their packets contain confidential information, such as the meeting minutes from executive session.

Tyndall then asked how the mayor and council adopts changes in the meeting minutes of executive sessions.

“If you spotted something in the executive minutes that you felt an open discussion of would give away too much information, I would say discuss it with David Gaskill and he’ll advise how to proceed with it,” Bohlen said.

Knerr suggested submitting an amended set of minutes during the next executive session.

“I don’t want to be out of line here, but I do know other municipalities – not all of them, everybody does things a little different – but I do know others do approve [the minutes] in executive,” Jensen added.

For the schedule of mayor and council meetings, visit berlinmd.gov/government/council-meetings/.