She asked what documents count as public records. The AG also has statutory authority to review OMA and FOIA violations, like Nessel did in Ottawa County after receiving more than 40 complaints from residents.Īnother question from a local official came from Betsy Kikstra, a member of the Zeeland Board of Education. Complaints may be sent to other jurisdictions if conflicts of interest are present. More: ‘Your integrity is very weak’: Allendale school board spars over law firm switchīarranco said law enforcement is not “compelled to investigate” complaints, similar to any other crime, but have the authority to investigate and send any potential charges to the county prosecutor. Barranco added there are limitations to filing OMA and FOIA complaints - 180 days allowed for FOIA and either 30 or 60 days for OMA violations. “I think the first thing that we advise people to do is to contact local law enforcement, the state police, to make a report and start an investigation,” McGivney said. Barranco and McGivney said complaints can start with local law enforcement. One of those came from Kim Cannata, a school board member in Allendale where two Ottawa Impact-backed candidates won seats and, with support from two incumbents, took similar measures to the county board, including hiring Kallman Legal Group.Ĭannata asked what she or a community member should do if there's a perceived violation of OMA. Several questions from the audience focused on pursuing violations of OMA. On Friday, one attendee asked if the representatives could provide additional information on the investigation, but both referred the audience to Nessel’s issued opinion on the matter. To me, it really has to do with the fact that OMA requires some significant strengthening.” “However, what we found is that there's no actionable violation of OMA or any other relevant laws at this time. “There's no question that there were things that occurred involving this county commission that were really disturbing,” Nessel told The Sentinel. 3 was a “blatant violation of the public's trust and the tenets of government transparency,” it didn't technically violate state law. “You guys might have a clue where that one came from.”Īfter a nearly six-week review, Nessel announced in mid-February that, although the OI commissioners’ conduct on Jan. is changing the definition of public official to include a person who has been elected or appointed to public office, but who hasn’t yet taken office,” Barranco said. While outlining changes Nessel would like to encourage the Legislature to make to strengthen OMA, Barranco again referenced Ottawa County. I’ve been working for the department for eight years and I’ve never seen such a busy (OMA) year, but here we are.” “Usually, the Open Meetings Act, there’s not a lot of questions that come up about it,” Barranco said. They also moved to replace Administrative Health Officer Adeline Hambley, but that move has been halted, at least temporarily, by a lawsuit Hambley filed against the board. More: AG: Ottawa Impact violated spirit of OMA, stronger transparency laws needed Nessel investigated after members of Ottawa Impact, an upstart far-right political group borne from clashes over the county's COVID-19 mitigation mandates in 2020, fired and replaced the county administrator and corporation counsel, closed the county’s DEI office and changed the county motto through a series of unannounced, last-minute agenda items during a Jan. When speaking on the Open Meetings Act, Barranco alluded to the AG's review of actions taken in Ottawa County earlier this year. Following the presentation, the representatives answered questions from attendees. A recording of the event is available on The Sentinel's page on Facebook.
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