Shero Denied Sealed Minutes

Grove area resident Earl Shero this week requested that minutes of two Executive Sessions of the City Council in 2003 and 2004 be unsealed, a request that should be decided by City Council, according to the interim City Attorney.

"Mr. Shero came into our office late Monday afternoon and requested copies of executive session minutes and I did not have the authority to open or make copies of them," Bonnie Buzzard, City Clerk said. Sealed minutes of executive sessions are to be opened only by a court order or action of the Board relating to the minutes, she added. Shero again appeared at city hall on Thursday to request the minutes. Bill Galletly, City Manager, said he asked Shero "are you aware of the city attorney's opinion on this matter" and Shero was not, Galletly said.

The minutes requested are for City Council Executive Sessions held on Feb. 3, 2004, and Sept. 2, 2003, according to Buzzard. Shero maintains that the city did not post executive sessions properly on the agendas for the two meetings.

Attorney Larry Steidley, Jr. of Claremore said Shero "has made such request based on what he claims to be deficiencies in the language of the agendas corresponding such executive session minutes."

In a letter to City Manager Bill Galletly, Steidley said "it is my opinion that neither you nor I have the authority to unseal executive session minutes by making a decision as to whether certain events rise to the level of 'willful.' Such authority is reserved to the City Council or a court of competent jurisdiction. In my opinion, there is no other avenue but to deny Mr. Shero's request due to the privileged nature of the executive session minutes with no determination of any "willful violation" being heretofore made," the letter continued.

Since the minutes remain sealed, it is unknown as to the content or subject matter. However, the Agenda from the Council meeting of Feb. 3, 2004, item 12 states "Executive Session: Discussion Regarding Possible Pending Litigation as Authorized by 25 O.S. 307 B (4)."
Item 11, same agenda, is "Discussion and/or action regarding setting procedures to handle offers for the sale of the Civic Center." A hand written notation on that item states "should hand to GIDA--they hold title."
Council members at that time were Randy Jobe, Charles Rowe, Bob Nold, Dave Helms and Carolyn Nuckolls.

For the Sept 2, 2003 Council meeting, item D was: "Executive Session: Discussion regarding possible pending litigation as authorized by Title 25 O.S. and 307 B (4). Council members at that time were the same as noted above.

In his letter dated Nov. 7, 2005, Steidley said Title 25 O.S. 307 (E) states that executive sessions may not be held unless: 1. The proposed executive session is noted on the agenda as provided by Title 25 O.S. 311; 2. The executive session is authorized by a majority vote of a quorum of the members present and the vote is a recorded vote; and 3…any vote or action on any item of business considered in an executive session shall be taken in public meeting with the vote of each member publicly cast and recorded."
"Subsection F of Section 30-7 goes on to state "[a] willful violation of the provisions of this section shall: 1. Subject each member of the public body to criminal sanctions as provided in Section 314 of this title; and 2. Cause the minutes and all other records of the executive session, including tape recordings, to be immediately made public."

"The real issue, as in the other instance, is the determination of just who has the authority to declare a "willful violation". As I have stated before, in my opinion the decision certainly does not rest with you or I, and I feel cautioned to rule that the minutes should be unsealed absent legal authority. Certainly the judge of a district court could do so."

Steidley went on to say in his letter, that "one way of resolving this issue would be to present the issue to the City Council and let it vote on whether or not the minutes should be unsealed. If it does, the issue becomes moot."

Steidley said that he had received a call from Ben Loring, First Assistant District Attorney in Eddie Wyant's office, inquiring about Shero's request. "Mr. Loring indicated that he would be monitoring the Shero request on behalf of Mr. Wyant's office," Steidley said. "However, right is right, and wrong is wrong. Sometimes difficult calls have to be made." He went on to say that the City Council should make the decision, since they were the board that went into Executive Session.

Galletly said Shero has a remedy through "discovery" if the requested minutes are related to his current lawsuits with the city, available through his attorney.

Efforts to reach Earl Shero for comment were not successful. At publishing time, no additional lawsuits had been filed in District Court by Shero against the city, although he had lodged a complaint early in the week with the Grove Police Department.