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Got a question? Try Ask the MMA Can discussions among board members constitute a quorum if a majority of members are not physically present?
Q: Can discussions among board or council members constitute a quorum even if a majority of members are not physically present at the same time?
A: Massachusetts courts have determined that “revolving door” meetings, in which a quorum of members congregate in serial fashion, are public meetings subject to the Open Meeting Law. Thus, an instance in which each member of a city council met privately with the city council president about a matter of public business and the matter was subsequently approved without substantial public discussion, the Open Meeting Law would likely have been violated. Likewise, “telephone meetings”—whether a conference call or conversations that occur in serial fashion—also are construed as violating the law.
Like private conversations held in person or over the phone, e-mail exchanges among a quorum of members of a governmental body that relate to the public business violate the law by depriving the public of the opportunity to monitor the discussion. It is, however, acceptable to use e-mail to distribute agendas and other documents that help members prepare for upcoming discussions.
Source: Open Meeting Law Guidelines, updated by the Attorney General’s office in April 2008
Got a question? Try Ask the MMA Can discussions among board members constitute a quorum if a majority of members are not physically present?
Can discussions among board members constitute a quorum if a majority of members are not physically present?
Q: Can discussions among board or council members constitute a quorum even if a majority of members are not physically present at the same time?
A: Massachusetts courts have determined that “revolving door” meetings, in which a quorum of members congregate in serial fashion, are public meetings subject to the Open Meeting Law. Thus, an instance in which each member of a city council met privately with the city council president about a matter of public business and the matter was subsequently approved without substantial public discussion, the Open Meeting Law would likely have been violated. Likewise, “telephone meetings”—whether a conference call or conversations that occur in serial fashion—also are construed as violating the law.
Like private conversations held in person or over the phone, e-mail exchanges among a quorum of members of a governmental body that relate to the public business violate the law by depriving the public of the opportunity to monitor the discussion. It is, however, acceptable to use e-mail to distribute agendas and other documents that help members prepare for upcoming discussions.
Source: Open Meeting Law Guidelines, updated by the Attorney General’s office in April 2008
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