The following article is a reminder to all municipal board members that talking municipal business with other board members outside of a duly noticed meeting is a violation of the open records law.  I often hear arguments from town board members regarding the inefficiency and difficulty it presents to not be able to talk to other board members outside of meetings.  But for small boards, and many are three member boards, that’s the reality of the law.  No talking shop to other board members.  Town board members also say “we’ve been doing it that way for thirty years!”  That may be so, but when a municipality is faced with something controversial, the board members will face increased scrutiny for sure, and may face some unhappy constituants depending on the stand they take on an issue.  That’s when the argument that “we’ve always done it that way” fails pretty quickly.

Here’s a link to the article from the Dunn County News.