Township Officials Give More Insight Into Closed Session Portion of Meetings

After some criticism from the public about the way closed session meetings were announced, Washington Township council members have agreed to provide additional information when convening into the private portion of council meetings.

At last week's meeting, township resident Grace Hogan addressed the governing body and asked that members consider telling the public more about what will be discussed behind closed doors. She said the categories were "very vague" and didn't allow the public to know what was being talked about.

Township Attorney Kenneth Poller said he had looked into what council members had been doing and while it conformed with the Open Public Meetings Act, he suggested they provide the public with additional information by identifying the items more specifically. For example, he said instead of saying the council was going into closed session for an issue of collective bargaining, members would announce they were going to discuss collective bargaining for the PBA or teachers. If it were a topic of litigation, the council could name the specific case.

Poller also added a clause to the closed session resolution where council members can tell the public the likelihood that action will be taken after the closed session portion. He said council members could say it is likely or unlikely that further action will be taken, or they could say they are not sure.

In November, the council went back into open session after a closed session meeting to .

Council members agreed to use the new format and did for the first time Jan. 10. The council announced they would discuss the property under the purchase of property for municipal use during closed session and the Ryan Smith vs. the Township of Washington under current litigation.