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![handle is hein.sag/sagri0001 and id is 1 raw text is: OM 04-01
March 5, 2004
Mr. Paul DiModica
Cumberland, RI 02864
RE: DiModica v. Cumberland Fire District
Dear Mr. DiModica:
The investigation into your Open Meetings Act [OMA] complaint against
the Cumberland Fire District [District] is complete. By letter dated July 17, 2003,
you allege the District violated the OMA by conducting elections of officers and
appointments of committee chairpersons without posting the elections on the
agenda.... In support of your complaint, you submitted the agenda from the
July 17, 2003, meeting, which confirms that no elections were noted in the public
notice.
We have received a response from Albert West, Esq., legal counsel for the
District. That response was accompanied by an affidavit from Marcel Bacon,
Chairperson of the District's Board of Commissioners. Mr. Bacon confirms that
the election was not listed on the agenda for the meeting by oversight. He
goes on to explain that upon being notified that an OMA complaint had been
filed, a subsequent meeting was scheduled, at which the election of Chair and
Assistant Chair and Appointed Committee Members was listed on the properly
posted agenda for a meeting scheduled for August 1, 2003. The August 1st
notice and minutes confirm this account.
The OMA requires that at least 48 hours before a meeting a public body
post notice that includes the date the notice was posted, the date, time and place
of the meeting, and a statement specifying the nature of the business to be
discussed. R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-46-6(b). Because the District did not indicate in
its public notice that elections would be conducted at its July 17, 2003, meeting, it
was not permitted to conduct these elections. By doing so, it violated the OMA.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.sag/sagri0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)