If Senate Bill 06-009 passes, executive sessions for all governmental entities will have to be electronically recorded.Today, Colorado open-records laws limit executive sessions for city and county agencies, including school and fire boards. Written or recorded minutes must be preserved for at least 90 days after executive sessions. According to the “Public/Press Guide to Colorado Laws on Open Meetings and Open Records,” board members may go into executive session to receive legal advice, discuss personnel matters or to negotiate the purchase or sale of property under competitive bidding laws, where public discussion may give an unfair advantage to any party.The current law also states that “No adoption of any rule, regulation, policy, position or formal action shall occur at any meeting closed to the public.” The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Shawn Mitchell (R-Jefferson County), said the new bill may or may not have an impact on how much more information the public receives, because, while it requires executive sessions to be recorded, it does not address the issue regarding who determines when the records should be released to the public.In a radio talk show broadcast Feb. 3 on 1580 AM, host Chuck Baker and Dave Gardner, the chair of a citizen’s advocacy group called SaveTheSprings, discussed the legitimacy of executive sessions conducted between Banning Lewis Ranch officials and the city of Colorado Springs. The purpose of these sessions was to negotiate the funding of a wastewater collection and treatment system to be built on the ranch, with a projected cost of $200 million, Gardner said.In a press release posted on the SaveTheSprings Web site, Gardner states he filed a request under the Colorado Open Records Act on Jan. 27 to determine the financial details of the agreement. But, in an e-mail dated Feb. 1, Lisa Mills, from the Issues Management Department for Colorado Springs Utilities, denied his request, stating “the draft agreement is a privileged and confidential document that is currently being negotiated.”However, as Gardner pointed out during the radio broadcast, CSU is a public entity, and the only one that provides wastewater treatment within city boundaries. Therefore, no bidding process is ongoing, and the public should have full access to any agreements made between CSU and Banning Lewis Ranch.Dave Grossman, spokesman for CSU, said, “CSU executive sessions are taped, and the recordings are held by the city attorney.” He also said the city attorney will decide when it is appropriate to release the recordings.Grossman also commented on the nature of the discussions between the city and Banning Lewis: “Banning Lewis may have the option to develop its own wastewater treatment facility” – one reason he said he believes the negotiations were permitted during executive session.Falcon officials weighed in on executive session issues. Falcon School board president Dave Martin said he has no problem with executive sessions being recorded. “In fact,” he said, “I like the fact that the community keeps an eye on us.” He also said all school district executive sessions have been taped since he has been on the board.However, he warned that protecting the rights of personnel and juveniles is very important, and the board would fight any request to release information that may violate these individuals’ rights. “Anything else is fair game,” Martin added.Falcon Fire Chief Trent Harwig said he does see certain problems that may arise with recording executive sessions. He pointed out that the reason for entering an executive session is first stated during a public meeting, and minutes are then taken during the executive session. And no decisions are made in those sessions, he said. “However, this is the only place where board members are free to discuss issues with respect to employees.”Harwig questioned who would decide when recorded sessions are released to the public. “Would a judge have to listen to them first, and who would be responsible for paying the judge?” Harwig said he believes these issues should be addressed before passing a law requiring executive sessions to be recorded.
