Auditors flag town-hall as "borderline" meeting and recommend stronger OPMA practices

State auditors told Mason County officials a recent town-hall-style event in which one commissioner participated actively while another attended passively appeared "borderline" under the state's Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA).

"While the event didn't violate OPMA requirements ... as far as what constitutes a meeting, per state law, it was essentially kind of a borderline event," Tim, the audit lead, said during the presentation. He urged the county to treat events with an attending quorum as meetings for best-practice purposes and to document notice and minutes to reduce risk.

An unidentified county speaker asked whether the attorney general's prior guidance that announced public appearances counted as public notice would make such events acceptable. The questioner said, "When it's been announced to the public that they're gonna be there and that that will occur, that has always been considered the legal ability to be able to conduct that type of business." Auditors responded that public announcements at the time of an event do not substitute for posted written notice and advised posting notices (for example on the county website) when events are intended to involve county business.

Auditors recommended training and resources to strengthen OPMA compliance and suggested documenting notices in writing rather than relying only on oral announcements. The auditors included OPMA commentary and a recommended action in the exit items provided to management; those materials will be included in the published audit packet.