EXCLUSIVE: Meridian Township Board will re-enact closed session to avoid Open Meetings Act violation
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – Tuesday night, the Meridian Township Board of Trustees will meet to re-enact a Sept. 5, 2023 closed session.
The move is a legal remedy provided under the Open Meetings Act when a public body has violated the transparency law. The OMA law requires public bodies to conduct their deliberations and votes in public.
The Board voted unanimously to go into closed session on Sept. 5 to discuss a “personnel matter.” While the law allows a closed session for that purpose, it requires the employee to be discussed to request the closed session.
Frank Walsh, Township manager, was the employee. He tells 6 News he did not request the closed session on Sept. 5.
“Township counsel has recommended that the Board meet to ratify the contents of the previous meeting as a proactive measure to address the clerical error, and the Board will do so tomorrow, the first opportunity after we learned of this issue,” Meridian Township Supervisor Pro Tem Scott Hendrickson tells 6 News.
(5) In any case where an action has been initiated to invalidate a decision of a public body on the ground that it was not taken in conformity with the requirements of this act, the public body may, without being deemed to make any admission contrary to its interest, reenact the disputed decision in conformity with this act. A decision reenacted in this manner shall be effective from the date of reenactment and shall not be declared invalid by reason of a deficiency in the procedure used for its initial enactment.
The likely violation was discovered by 6 News during an extensive investigation into the cause and focus of an investigation being conducted by an outside legal firm. The investigation 6 News has learned relates to Walsh’s management and questions about the distribution of employee wellness and recognition cash rewards. During the 6 News investigation, it was revealed Walsh has been using Township resources to benefit his personal consulting firm.
In interviews with sources about the investigation, 6 News has learned Township Supervisor Patricia Herring Jackson and Hendrickson were first informed of formal complaints against Walsh on Aug. 10, 2023.
Hendrickson was the elected official who made the motion for the closed session.
“Prior to the September 5th meeting, I requested a closed session be placed on the agenda,” he tells 6 News in an email. “I suggested a reason for why that should occur but asked that counsel be present to weigh in on the appropriateness of that request. They were not at the meeting, which I took to mean that they did not have issue with my suggestion.”
Lisa McGraw is the public affairs manager for the Michigan Press Association. She says the re-enactment provision of the law is there as a guidepost for members of a public body.
“I give them the benefit of the doubt that made a mistake and learned from it,” she tells 6 News. “Closing a meeting is a drastic matter. That’s why those things are in place, to make you think about the decision you are making. Is the information you are going to deal with in that closed session something that needs to be kept from the public?”
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