But Aztec City Commission quickly remedied violation.


 

The Aztec City Commission held an illegal closed session when it discussed an appointment to the city's Planning and Zoning Board last October, but the Attorney General's Office told the city it won't take action because the appointment was made correctly at a later meeting, the Farmington Daily Times reported.

Assistant Attorney General Sonny Swazo told Aztec City Attorney Karen Townsend in a letter dated March 10 that the city commission had violated the Open Meetings Act at their Oct. 18, 2005, meeting, the Daily Times reported today on its Web site.

The city commissioners violated the act when they privately discussed the "selection of an individual for a board position," the paper quoted Swazo's letter.

The meeting should not have been closed to discuss a personnel matter because a Planning and Zoning Board member is not a public employee, and even if the meeting had been closed to discuss a personnel matter there was no advanced notice given, according to Swazo's letter.

The complaint was filed originally by the Daily Times, which alleged a violation of the Open Meetings Act, the paper reported.

Bob Johnson, executive director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, supported the findings of a violation but also noted that the city quickly took steps to correct the action, according to the Daily Times.

"The AG made the right decision. It was clearly a violation," Johnson told the paper. "If they corrected it within 15 days, they cured the violation. That was the proper thing for the AG to say."

The Attorney General's Office investigates claims of violations of the Open Meetings Act and the Inspection of Public Records Act and can file charges in state District Court, the paper reported.

An agency can be fined up to $500 for each Open Meetings Act violation and up to $100 a day for a violation of the Inspection of Public Records Act, the Daily Times said.

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