Kansas: City votes to take back letter to AG

The self-reporting of a potential violation of the Kansas Open Meetings Act was rescinded by a 3-2 vote of the Abilene City Commission Monday night.

The commission voted 5-0 at the March 28 meeting to report a possible violation of KOMA.

Commissioners Sharon Peterson, Dee Marshall and Terry Chaput voted in favor of rescinding the letter at the regular meeting Monday. Mayor Tim Shafer and Commissioner Chris Ostermann were the dissenting votes.

The complaint sent as a letter to Attorney General Derek Schmidt was not filed properly, according to a letter to Abilene City Attorney Mark Guilfoyle by Lisa Mendoza, assistant attorney general.

By state law, the complaint must be submitted on a form prescribed by the attorney general. The letter also outlined 10 steps that must be followed including “a detailed description of any and all communications between the commissioners, individually or as a group, regarding the drafting, review, adoption or repeal of any ordinance concerning mayor and vice mayor selection that occurred outside the open meeting room. Read more…