By Steven Martens
The start of a special city council meeting in Clinton was delayed Friday morning by an effort to comply with Iowa’s open meetings, or “sunshine” law.
After Mayor Rodger Holm called the 11 a.m. meeting to order, council member Mike Kearney, 2nd Ward, spoke up and said the notice of the special meeting had not been e-mailed to council members and the public until 11:11 a.m. on Thursday. Iowa’s open meetings law requires that the public be notified of council meetings at least 24 hours in advance.
So Holm adjourned the meeting, and everyone in the council chambers sat and waited for about five more minutes until 11:11 a.m., when the meeting was opened a second time, including a second recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.
I don’t know when Mike Kearney received his notice, but the e-mail notification about the meeting I received, which was sent as part of a group e-mail sent to council members, city department heads and other members of the news media, was received in my inbox at 10:12 a.m. on Thursday.
Simple answer, Mike and some other council members are often in a differant time zone.