State Clears Mentone Council, Member Of Complaints
Posted
Jennifer Peryam-jperyam@timesuniononline.com
MENTONE – Mentone Town Council heard Monday during its meeting that the council and Jill Gross, council member, have been cleared by the state of complaints filed against them. A complaint was filed Aug. 7 against Gross by Jim Eads, town marshal, and Terry Engstrand, former deputy, stating Gross had violated the Open Door Law by stating during a public meeting that the town was waiting for a response from the police department regarding a formal complaint filed against the department. The State of Indiana Public Access Counselor Luke Britt responded via a letter that said the issue in the current case is whether a member of a governing body can breach confidentiality of an executive session by discussing the particulars of a closed-door meeting in public. The response states there may be an understanding between council members that executive session issues be kept behind closed doors, however, there is not a mandatory gag order to keep details secret. Governing bodies have the discretion and the autonomy to disclose details of an executive session. Another complaint was filed Oct. 16 by Elmon Bays, Silver Lake, against the town council claiming the council violated the Open Door Law by taking official action outside a public meeting. Bays said the town approved the hiring of a lawyer sometime between public meeting in September and October. On Nov. 16, the board said the purpose of hiring attorney Charles Braun was so he could review a new policy for the Mentone Police Department. The board said no official action by a majority of the board had taken place at any time outside public meetings. The town council said there was no violation of the Open Door Law because the action taken was the use of appropriate money in the town’s legal budget and was ratified at a town meeting. The state said the decision to hire Braun appeared to be unresolved as of the conclusion of the August board meeting. It then seems as if a lone council person (Tim Croy) acted in retaining the legal service of an attorney for a policy review. Croy then directed the town clerk to pay the attorney from the board’s legal budget. Whether Croy had the authority to do this is beyond the scope of the office. The response said it appears as if the board did not act as a collective in coming to the decision of retaining an attorney, but was the action of the one council person. If there is money in a line item to pay for the expenditure, it is up to the board’s procedure as to how that expense is paid. The Open Door Law would not be triggered by the mere act of retaining counsel by one councilperson. In other business, Eads said he received 13 applications for the deputy position. The council will meet with Eads Thursday night to review the applications and plan to have the seat filled by January. In other business, Josh Shepherd, street superintendent, said the Lions Club donated fire hydrant markers. Shepherd said he will attend the American Water and Association Conference in Indianapolis. The council approved purchasing a $400 diesel tank and the police department purchasing three bullet-proof vests.
