Opinion ID: 2571637
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Constructive quorum

Text: We now address whether the back-to-back briefings created a constructive quorum or serial communication in violation of Board of Regents. [36] If a constructive quorum did not exist, there was no violation of the Open Meeting Law. This is because the quorum standard is a brightline standard [in] legislative recognition of a demarcation between the public's right of access and the practical necessity that government must function on an orderly, but nonetheless legitimate, basis.... The public's right of access at later stages in the decision making process, and its accompanying right to question, is a strong safeguard that public servants remain accountable to the citizens. [37] Importantly, [r]equiring members of [a] board to consider only information obtained through public comment and staff recommendations presented in formal sessions would cripple the board's ability to conduct business. [38] This reasoning underscores the need for other action, such as polling or collective discussions designed to reach a decision, to create a constructive quorum between the briefings. When less than a quorum is present, private discussions and information gathering do not violate the Open Meeting Law. [39] Here, absent serial communication of the discussions, there was no quorum and therefore no deliberations in violation of the Open Meeting Law. A review of the record demonstrates that no actual quorum of Agency members was present during the staff briefings on August 31, 1999. Moreover, substantial evidence supports the district court's finding that the Agency members did not meet on August 31, 1999, with the intent of taking action on the Mapes Hotel. Substantial evidence also supports the district court's finding that the content of the briefings involved more than information gathering. The attendees indicated various RFP ratings were discussed and the Agency members asked questions or made comments on the issue. The briefings were designed to permit the Agency members to gather information and discuss the highly complex RFP proposal process. However, substantial evidence does not support a finding that serial collective discussions occurred between the briefings. Because not every attendee, particularly the Agency staff, could remember precisely what was discussed in each briefing, the district court shifted the burden of proof to the Agency to show that no serial collective discussions, i.e., deliberations, occurred. The district court then concluded that the Agency had not met its burden because it did not keep minutes of the briefings. Such a shifting might be permissible if a quorum was physically present, or if there was a significant lack of memory on the part of the participants. However, the record lacks substantial evidence to support such burden shifting in this case. Agency members and staff gave significant testimony concerning the contents of the briefings. The attendees did not have a suspicious loss of memory or vague recollections that would support an inference that serial communications or collective discussions occurred or that the briefings were designed as a subterfuge to avoid the Open Meeting Law. At best, the record reflects speculation that information discussed in the first meeting was also discussed in the second meeting, not that the meetings involved the kind of exchange of information and collective discussions present in the faxed distributions and serial telephonic communications identified in Board of Regents. [40] Thus, the district court's determination that the private briefings of August 31, 1999, constituted gatherings or deliberations as those terms are used in the definition of meeting was clearly erroneous and not supported by substantial evidence. Specifically, mere back-to-back briefings, standing alone, do not constitute a constructive quorum. Moreover, unlike the serial communications involved in Board of Regents, there is no substantial evidence in the record that Agency members or Agency staff met or gathered privately for the purpose of taking action on, or collectively discussing, a matter of public business. We conclude substantial evidence does not support a finding that the private briefings of August 31 created a constructive quorum or that a meeting in violation of the Open Meeting Law occurred. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the district court and vacate the permanent injunction. [41]