In a July 20, 2020 complaint and July 22, 2020 complaint, the Complainant alleged that the Fire District violated the OMA by conducting business outside of the public purview. In the July 20, 2020 complaint, the Complainant alleged that the Fire District both retained legal counsel and vacated a...
The Complainant alleged that the Department violated the OMA by convening meetings outside the public purview related to revising the Town of Westerly Zoning Ordinance without providing public notice or maintaining minutes of those meetings. Guided by Rhode Island Supreme Court precedent, we...
The Complainant alleged that the Scituate School Committee violated the OMA when it did not provide proper notice of the nature of the business to be discussed and/or acted upon at its July 7, 2020 meeting. Specifically, the Complainant argued that an agenda item titled "Discussion/Action/Vote...
The Complainant alleged the Department's prepayment estimate did not comply with the APRA and that the Department failed to provide a specific legal contract Complainant alleged was responsive to the request. During the pendency of this Office's investigation, the Department provided the...
Both Complainants alleged that the Fire District violated the OMA when it convened a meeting outside of the public purview. Ms. Childs additionally alleged that the Fire District failed to include a date of posting on the physical posting of its meeting notice and provided an inadequately specific...
The Complainant alleged that both the North Smithfield Planning Board and the North Smithfield Conservation Commission violated the OMA when they convened a "site tour" of a solar farm outside of the public purview. Based on the totality of the evidence before us, we determined that the...
The Complainant alleged that RIDE violated the OMA and the Governor's Executive Order when participants at its July 21, 2020 virtual meeting were not permitted to activate their videos or use a chat box feature. The OMA expressly provides that it does not require "any public body to hold an open...
The Complainant alleged that the Council violated the OMA by discussing the Complainant's employment outside of a properly noticed meeting. Based on the totality of the evidence presented, we did not find sufficient evidence that a quorum of the Council engaged in a collective discussion regarding...
The Complainant alleged the Department violated the APRA when it denied his request for certain "reports or investigations" related to a specific private citizen and filed by specific private citizens. The Department declined to confirm or deny whether such records existed and maintained that if...
This Office previously concluded that the Fire District violated the OMA when it failed to post annual notice of its regularly scheduled meetings on the Secretary of State's website. This Office issued a finding directing the Fire District to address whether its violation should be considered...
