Township attorney defends split-panel interviews as Open Meetings Act compliance

Township legal counsel explained the board divided the 19 trustee-applicant interviews across two small panels so no group of interviewers constituted a quorum outside a publicly noticed meeting. “So, with the Open Meetings Act, anytime the board a quorum of the board meets, they have to meet in a public meeting properly noticed and open to the public,” the attorney said during the meeting.

Board members confirmed the approach: each candidate faced the same questions, interviews lasted about 30 minutes, and the first time all four interviewers discussed applicants publicly was at the special meeting. Members said the split process avoided cross-group collaboration before the public discussion and helped keep the process lawful under state open-meetings requirements.

Provenance: topicintro SEG 156, topfinish SEG 189.