24FC:0041 Laurie Kramer, Nancy Preussner, Emily Preussner/Delhi City Council - Consolidation & Dismissal Order

Date: 

7/18/24

Subject: 

Laurie Kramer, Nancy Preussner, Emily Preussner/Delhi City Council - Consolidation & Dismissal Order

Opinion:

The Iowa Public Information Board

COMES NOW, Erika Eckley, Executive Director for the Iowa Public Information Board (IPIB), and enters this Consolidation and Dismissal Order.

Facts

Laurie Kramer, Nancy Preussner, and Emily Preussner (“Complainants”) filed formal complaint 24FC:0041 on April 23 and April 30, 2024, alleging that the Delhi City Council (“Council”) violated Iowa Code chapter 21 on April 22, 2024.

The Complainants all allege the same violation and facts, so the matter has been consolidated into one Complaint. Complainants allege the Council originally scheduled a public hearing for their budget on April 22, 2024, but the meeting was canceled and rescheduled for May 13, 2024. They allege there was no notice or meeting approving the date change for the public hearing. They also allege that issues with the budget caused a delay in getting approval of the budget by the April 30 deadline, but this information was not made public. 

DeAnna Hogan, Delhi City Clerk provided a response to this complaint. She does agree the Council scheduled a public hearing on the FY2025 budget for April 22, 2024. A notice was sent to the newspaper to be printed on April 16th, 2024. When the newspaper came out on April 16th, Ms. Hogan noticed that the Proposed Tax Levy was published instead of the Proposed

Budget. Therefore, the council could not hold the scheduled meeting on April 22, 2024. The meeting was canceled. 

Ms. Hogan states the Council has complied with all requirements regarding notice of meetings to be held. On April 23rd at 5:00pm an agenda was posted for a meeting on April 24th at 5:30pm at the three locations required by city ordinance. The purpose of this special meeting was to set a meeting date for the public hearing for the FY25 Budget. In addition, it was posted online at delhiia.com. There is a guideline set for publication dates by the Department of Management for budget hearings and May 13th was a date that met the requirement for publication of the Proposed budget. The meeting was held on April 24th and the May 13th date was approved. 

Ms. Hogan shared that the budget was submitted on May 14. 

Analysis

Allegations regarding missed deadlines for completion of the FY25 budget are outside the scope of Iowa Code chapter 21, so are not within the jurisdiction of the IPIB. 

The issues raised in the complaint include a failure to publicly notify the cancellation of a scheduled meeting and failing to hold a meeting for the Council to reschedule the public hearing on the budget.[1]

Canceling the Scheduled Public Hearing

Iowa Code chapter 21 is silent as to a procedure related to the cancelation of a meeting. There is no violation of Iowa Code chapter 21 for canceling a meeting. Under the facts of this complaint, the proper publication to hold a budget hearing had not occurred and the Council needed to address this matter as required under Iowa Code chapter 384, so canceling the meeting was necessary. As a best practice, the Council should provide notice if a meeting is to be canceled or rescheduled, such as posting notice on the website and posting notice of the change where notices are typically posted. There is no violation of chapter 21, however, for canceling the meeting.

Rescheduling the Public Meeting

The Council held a Special Meeting on April 24, 2024. The agenda and minutes included only one item, which was to set the budget hearing for May 13, 2024. The Council voted to approve this date. Because the Council did hold a meeting and voted to reschedule the public meeting, the allegations regarding the Council’s failure to do this are without merit.

Conclusion

Iowa Code section 23.8 requires that a complaint be within the IPIB’s jurisdiction, appear legally sufficient, and could have merit before the IPIB accepts a complaint.  These complaints do not meet those requirements. 

There is no violation for canceling a scheduled meeting under Iowa Code chapter 21 and the Council held a meeting specifically to reschedule the public hearing for the budget.

IT IS SO ORDERED:  Formal complaint 24FC:0041-1, 24FC:0041-2, and 24FC:0041-3 are consolidated and dismissed as legally insufficient pursuant to Iowa Code section 23.8(2) and Iowa Administrative Rule 497-2.1(2)(b).  The City of Delhi did not violate the open meeting code section.

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 July 18, 2024.  Pursuant to IPIB rule 497-2.1(4), the parties will be notified in writing of its decision.

By the IPIB Executive Director

________________________________

Erika Eckley, J.D.

[1] Complaint 24FC:0051 was filed by Ms. Kramer and addressed public comments about the delay of the budget and the implications to the City’s budget because of the delay.