The Complainant alleged that the Mayor's Advisory Council was a "public body" under the OMA and was meeting outside of the public purview. Based on Solas v. Emergency Hiring Council, 774 A.2d 820 (R.I. 2001) and Pontarelli v. Rhode Island Board Council on Elementary and Secondary Education, 151 A....
The Complainant alleged that the Town violated the APRA when it twice produced the same document with slightly different spacing. We found that the Town timely responded to both of the Complainant's APRA requests by providing the requested document. The slightly different spacing was due to...
Complainants alleged that the Town Council violated the OMA when a rolling quorum occurred outside the public purview and when an agenda item on the Town Council's July 17, 2017 meeting failed to sufficiently specify "the nature of the business to be discussed." R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-46-6(b). With...
The Complainants allege that the Town Council violated the OMA when it voted to terminate their respective positions at its June 26, 2017 executive session meeting, yet the agenda was not specific enough to adequately information the public of the nature of the business to be discussed. The...
The Complainant alleged the Rhode Island Commerce Corporation ("Corporation") violated the APRA when its pre-payment estimate was unreasonable. This Department concluded that the Corporation's response to the APRA request, as well as the affidavit submitted by the Corporation, conclusively...
Complainant alleged that an agenda item on the Town Council's July 17, 2017 meeting failed to sufficiently specify "the nature of the business to be discussed." R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-46-6(b). Consistent with Rhode Island Supreme Court precedent, we found that the agenda items "Adoption of 2017/2018...
Legal counsel for the Town of Burrillville and the Rhode Island Fire Safety Code Board of Appeal & Review sought an OMA advisory opinion concerning the interpretation of the recently amended R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-46-7(d). The amendment provides that "[a]ll public bodies shall keep official and/...
The Complainant alleged that the KHA violated the OMA during its April 3, 2017 meeting when it improperly convened into executive session to discuss the proposed sale of property. Specifically, the Complainant alleged that the KHA property was not "publicly held" pursuant to R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-46-...
This supplemental finding addressed whether Complainant's rebuttal altered our finding in Sullivan v. City of Newport, PR 17-38. We found that the Complainant's suggestion that the City should have responded in a narrative manner was not governed by the APRA and that the City's failure to do so...
The Woonsocket City Council ("City Council") violated the OMA when it amended its agenda at one of its meetings to add an additional item, yet not only discussed this item, but also voted on this additional item. See R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-46-6(b). This Department found no evidence of a willful and...
