The July 11 Committee of the Whole and regular City Council meetings were accidentally closed off to members of the public when City Hall doors automatically locked and council members were in a meeting, unaware the doors were locked, officials said.On July 11, the City Council held its regularly scheduled council meeting, and a Committee of the Whole meeting, on the same day. The Committee of the Whole meeting was scheduled to start at 5 p.m.
According to a memo from the city’s Law Department, the Department of Facilities Management investigated the situation and determined the City Hall doors locked automatically at 6:30 p.m. The temporary relocation of public meetings to the fifth floor of City Hall probably also contributed to the delayed discovery of the problem, the memo said.
The Law Department memo said the Open Meetings Act, as well as opinions and case law covering it, requires public bodies hold meetings at specified times and places that are convenient and open to the public.