Reno City Council's private briefings criticized

Groups of no more than three regularly meet in back-to-back, same-day briefings with city officials, according to the report.

Citing confidential city memos and city clerk records, the newspaper said council members have held 18 such closed sessions over the last year to discuss issues ranging from tax hikes to lawsuit settlements.

The Nevada Attorney General's Office has ruled twice this year that the briefings don't violate the state's Opening Meeting Law.

But the Nevada Press Association, a watchdog group for open government and the media, says the practice should be challenged in court.

"It is nothing more than legislative musical chairs to circumvent the Open Meeting Law," said Kent Lauer, the group's executive director.

"I have yet to see little, if any, justification for having a meeting behind closed doors. The public isn't served when the council discusses issues in private."

Scot Munns, a member of the state Bicycle Advisory Board, said the sessions show the Open Meeting Law needs to be redefined, either through the courts or the Legislature.

"It's sneaky what they are doing," the Reno-area man said. "What they've done is found the limit of the law, and they're skirting the edge of it.

"This really hits my switch. Why is Reno running around meetings in groups of two or three? We don't do that on our board."

But City Manager Charles McNeely and Mayor Jeff Griffin defended the briefings, saying they make council members better informed about issues.

"I like to think it helps the council in making better decisions," McNeely said. "If elected officials don't have a good grasp of an issue, it leads to bad public policy."

Griffin said he's sensitive to the ethical issues surrounding the briefings, but he thinks the public benefits from the sessions.

"I don't think I've ever made up my mind before a meeting," he said. "If you watch the meetings, you can clearly see nothing has been decided."

Many states, including California, Arizona, Ohio and Tennessee, have prohibited such briefings, said Rebecca Daugherty, a director for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in Arlington, Va.

archive