Date:
05/19/2022
Subject:
Dean Wolf/Pocahontas County Board of Health
Opinion:
COMES NOW, Margaret E. Johnson, Executive Director for the Iowa Public Information Board (IPIB), and enters this Dismissal Order.
Dean Wolf filed formal complaint 22FC:0029 on April 7, 2022, alleging that the Pocahontas County Board of Health (Board) violated Iowa Code chapter 21. The Board is a governmental body in Pocahontas County.
Mr. Wolf alleged that the Board director refused to place an issue concerning a septic system on the agenda for its February 9, 2022, meeting. Instead, he was advised that he could make comments during the public comments portion of the agenda. When he spoke during public comments, the Board chair would not allow the Board to deliberate or take action on the issue, as it was not on the agenda.
After he left the meeting, Mr. Wolf was told that the Board chair was asked if the issue he raised could be placed upon a future agenda. Mr. Wolf alleged that the Board determined not to place his issue on a future agenda. He cites this as a violation of Iowa Code chapter 21.
Mr. Wolf asked that the IPIB hold the Board chair and the Board director each liable for a violation of open meetings laws.
On April 22, 2022, the Pocahontas County Attorney responded to the complaint on behalf of the Board. He noted that both the Board chair and the Board director have resigned. He discussed the complaint with a Board member who was present at the meeting. The Board member stated that following public comments, a Board member asked if the issue could be placed upon a future agenda.
The county attorney stated he was told that no discussion, deliberation, or action occurred. The Board chair told the Board that the matter would not be placed on the agenda. The attorney stated that this is considered a ‘ministerial’ matter under the definition of a meeting.1
Iowa Code section 21.7 allows a governmental body to determine how the body conducts a meeting:
21.7 Rules of conduct at meetings. The public may use cameras or recording devices at any open session. Nothing in this chapter shall prevent a governmental body from making and enforcing reasonable rules for the conduct of its meetings to assure those meetings are orderly, and free from interference or interruption by spectators.
Iowa Code section 21.2(2) defines a meeting:
2. “Meeting” means a gathering in person or by electronic means, formal or informal, of a majority of the members of a governmental body where there is deliberation or action upon any matter within the scope of the governmental body’s policy-making duties. Meetings shall not include a gathering of members of a governmental body for purely ministerial or social purposes when there is no discussion of policy or no intent to avoid the purposes of this chapter.
The governmental body for this complaint is the Board, not the chair and director. The Board, as a governmental body, has the statutory authority to set rules concerning the drafting of an agenda and determining whether an issue will be set for deliberation and action at a meeting.
Any discussion following the public comments at the February 9, 2022, meeting was for the purpose of determining whether to place this issue on a future agenda. The former Board chair indicated it would not be on a future agenda. If any member of the Board wants to place the issue on a future agenda, there is a mechanism through the Board rules to do this.
What limited discussion that may have occurred following the public comments did not rise to the level of deliberating or taking action by the Board. The discussion was ministerial. There was not a violation of the open meetings laws.
Iowa Code section 23.8 requires that a complaint be within the IPIB’s jurisdiction, appear legally sufficient, and have merit before the IPIB accepts a complaint. This complaint does not meet those requirements.
IT IS SO ORDERED: Formal complaint 22FC:0029 is dismissed as legally insufficient pursuant to Iowa Code section 23.8(2) and Iowa Administrative Rule 497-2.1(2)(b).
Pursuant to Iowa Administrative Rule 497-2.1(3), the IPIB may “delegate acceptance or dismissal of a complaint to the executive director, subject to review by the board.” The IPIB will review this Order on May 19, 2022. Pursuant to IPIB rule 497-2.1(4), the parties will be notified in writing of its decision.
By the IPIB Executive Director
________________________________
Margaret E. Johnson
1. The county attorney also provided information on the steps a Board member could take to place a discussion item on a Board agenda.
CERTIFICATE OF MAILING
This document was sent by electronic mail on the ___ day of May, 2022, to:
Don Wolf
Dan Feistner, Pocahontas County Attorney