Flippin City Council violated FOIA with late meeting notice

A special meeting of the Flippin City Council held Tuesday evening violated Arkansas’ Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by not informing the public and the media in a timely matter that the meeting was taking place.

KTLO, Classic Hits and The Boot News received notice of the meeting at 4:52 Tuesday afternoon, with the meeting scheduled to start at 6 p.m. Under Arkansas law, a two-hour notice is required for all special or emergency meetings. That notice must be given to local media that have asked to be informed, as well as posted publicly online, and it must include the time, place, and date of the meeting to ensure an opportunity for public representation. Based on the late delivery of the notice the council failed to inform the public and media in a timely matter as defined by the law.

According to state law, “In the event of an emergency meeting, the person calling the meeting shall notify the representatives of the news papers, radio stations… if any are located in the county…” Mayor Heath Hogan told KTLO “The person calling the meeting is responsible for the notification. Normal meetings are notified by Clerk- Treasurer but in our case the Recorder.”

The meeting was called by Councilwomen Margaret Ott, Jodi Howard, and Lacie Bettencourt to discuss the city’s bank signature cards. Mayor Heath Hogan said in a letter to KTLO that he was notified of the meeting by the council members between 2:05 and 2:39 p.m. and he later contacted his office at 4:45 p.m. to make sure all media were alerted.

According to Hogan, City Attorney Sam Pasthing asked at 3:13 p.m. if the press had been notified. When the meeting began, there was discussion among council members about whether the two-hour requirement had been met. During that exchange, City Recorder Mary Jane Erwin showed her phone and said she had notified Robert Lyons of the Mountain Echo about the meeting earlier in the afternoon, adding, “To clarify why I did that, I am the City Recorder, and that is my job.”

The only topic on the agenda was to change who could sign checks for city bank accounts. During the meeting, Councilwoman Howard made a motion to remove Public Works Director J.L. Wagoner from all city bank signature cards. The motion passed.

On Wednesday morning the mayor vetoed the item citing Arkansas Code 14-44-107.

The council had previously voted on October 28 to revoke Mayor Hogan and city department heads’ check-signing privileges, citing what members described as unauthorized repairs to police vehicles.

Mayor Hogan stated in his letter the council did not provide enough reason for the change and warning that confidential employee information could be exposed if more people handle paychecks prompting him to respond with the veto.

The council is expected to revisit the issue at its next regular meeting on November 25 at 6 p.m.

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