Council hereby adopts the following rules and regulations for notice of public meetings of Council.
(A) Meetings declared public. All meetings, including any prearranged discussion of Council, are declared to be public meetings open to the public at all times.
(B) Minutes of meetings. The minutes of such meetings, whether regular or special, shall be promptly recorded and open to public inspection. The minutes of executive sessions, as hereinafter provided, need only reflect the general subject matter of items discussed in such executive sessions.
(C) Notice of meetings. Notice of the time and place of all the regular meetings and notice of the time, place and purpose of all special meetings of Council shall, in the case of the regular meeting, be given by the Clerk of Council in a newspaper of general circulation in the city at least 72 hours prior to such regular meeting, and in the case of a special meeting, shall be given by the Clerk to the news media that have requested notification at least 24 hours prior to such special meeting. In the event of an emergency requiring official action, the member or members calling the meeting shall notify the news media that have requested notification immediately of the time, place and purpose of the emergency meeting.
(D) Written request for notification. Any person may, upon written request and payment to the Clerk of a fee of $10 annually, receive advance notification of all meetings at which any specific type of public business is to be discussed. Notification may include, but not be limited to, mailing the agenda of the meetings to subscribers on a mailing list or in self-addressed, stamped envelopes provided by the person making the request for notification.
(E) Executive sessions. Members of Council may hold an executive session only at a regular or special meeting for the sole purpose of the consideration of the following matters:
(1) Unless the public employee, official, licensee or regulated individual requests a public hearing, to consider the appointment, employment, dismissal, discipline, promotion, demotion or compensation of a public employee or official, or the investigation of charges or complaints against a public employee, official, licensee or regulated individual. Except as otherwise provided by law, no public body shall hold an executive session for the discipline of an elected official or conduct related to the performance of his official duties or for his removal from office.
(2) To consider the purchase of property for public purposes or for the sale of property at competitive bidding, if premature disclosure of information would give an unfair competitive or bargaining advantage to a person whose personal, private interest is adverse to the general public interest. No member shall use this subsection as a subterfuge for providing covert information to prospective buyers or sellers. A purchase or sale of public property is void if the seller or buyer of the public property has received covert information from a member that has not been disclosed to the general public in sufficient time for other prospective buyers and sellers to prepare and submit offers. If the minutes of Council show that all meetings and deliberations of Council have been conducted in compliance with this section, any instrument executed by the city, purporting to convey, lease or otherwise dispose of any right, title or interest in any public property shall be conclusively presumed to have been executed in compliance with this section insofar as title or other interest of any bona fide purchasers, lessees or transferees of the property is concerned.
(3) Conferences with an attorney for the city, concerning disputes involving the city that are the subject of pending or imminent court action.
(4) Preparing for, conducting or reviewing negotiations or bargaining sessions with public employees concerning their compensation or other terms and conditions of their employment.
(5) Matters required to be kept confidential by federal law or rules or state statutes.
(6) Specialized details of security arrangements where disclosure of the matters discussed might reveal information that could be used for the purpose of committing or avoiding prosecution for a violation of the law.
(F) Validity of action. An ordinance, resolution, rule or formal action of any kind is invalid unless adopted in an open meeting of Council. An ordinance, resolution, rule or formal action adopted in an open meeting that results from deliberations in a meeting not open to the public is invalid unless the deliberations were for a purpose specifically authorized herein and conducted at an executive session held in compliance with this section.
('73 Code, § 121.02) (Ord. 51-75, passed 12-29-75)