"Huntsville City Schools need a lecture on the state's open meetings law. Honesty and public trust should be part of that lesson"

Schools Dealing in Darkness

City school board members Topper Birney, Jennie Robinson and David Blair need a lecture on the state's open meetings law. Honesty and public trust should be part of that lesson.
Only a week or so after the municipal elections, the three huddled privately at a local restaurant to discuss board business, including the search for a superintendent and who might be the next school board chairman. Times special projects editor Challen Stephens reported on the restaurant rendezvous on Thursday.
As it turns out, Birney was elected board chairman and he immediately placed Blair and Robinson in charge of the superintendent search.
If that was coincidence, it sure seems fishy. Even if the leadership selections weren't influenced by that meal time pow wow, what were they thinking?
Blair's excuse that he had not been officially seated yet is lame. Under state law, public officials elected, but not yet seated, count toward a quorum that would constitute a private meeting. That starts the day the election results are certified, The Times reported Thursday. Blair ought to know. He served on the board from 2000 to 2004 and was part of the selection of now-outgoing Ann Roy Moore as superintendent.
Robinson also offered a weak defense, noting the three had occasionally met for lunch before the election and that the luncheon started as a post-election celebration. All three acknowledged, however, that school issues, including the superintendent search, were discussed and they soon began to feel uncomfortable. "It just didn't feel right. And that's something that's not going to happen again," Robinson said.
Birney said no decisions were made in the luncheon meeting.

Open meetings act

In Alabama, an open meeting of a governing body is defined as the gathering of a quorum, or a voting majority.  

 The Alabama Open Meetings Act holds that "the deliberative process of governmental bodies shall be open to the public during meetings."

Commissioner Bob Harrison and Councilman Richard Showers are right.  No pun intended.