<div dir="ltr"><div>Thank you, Ruth! This puts a very different slant on it and these would all be valuable points to incorporate into the document.<br><br></div>Terran<br><div class="gmail_extra"><br clear="all"><div><div class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr">Terran McCanna <br>PINES Program Manager <br>Georgia Public Library Service <br>1800 Century Place, Suite 150 <br>Atlanta, GA 30345 <br>404-235-7138 <br><a href="mailto:tmccanna@georgialibraries.org" target="_blank">tmccanna@georgialibraries.org</a> <br><br></div></div></div>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, May 31, 2016 at 11:16 AM, Ruth Frasur <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:rfrasur@gmail.com" target="_blank">rfrasur@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">I haven't read through all of this. My apologies. There's been a "vacation" and a son's high school graduation and all the all. I've skimmed, however, and noticed a few things that I'd like to point out.<div><br></div><div>1. Executive sessions are generally held as work sessions so that board members can freely discuss certain issues in such a way that names can be mentioned and/or numbers run. They generally involve legal issues and personnel issues. </div><div><br></div><div>2. Minutes are not taken in executive sessions. Also, recordings are not generally made. These are ONLY for discussion. </div><div><br></div><div>3. No action can be made in an executive session. Any action that may come out of an executive session must be referred to the publicly held meetings where the action then does get recorded in the minutes with all the proper voting protocols.</div><div><br></div><div>4. Executive sessions MUST be advertised/publicized and the reason for the executive session must be stated. ie. "This board will meet in executive session at this time and place to discuss legal matters." or "This board will meet in executive session at this time and place to discuss this personnel matter." or "This board will meet in executive session at this time and place to discuss this other issue where we need some time to go over this and that." </div><div>5. Executive sessions are open to only board members and whomever they might invite to participate. </div><div><br></div><div>6. Again, NO ACTION can take place in executive sessions.</div><div><br></div><div>I know I've missed a bunch of the discussion and, for that, I apologize. If these things have already been discussed, please disregard.</div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><div><br></div><div>Ruth</div></font></span></div><div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, May 25, 2016 at 9:56 AM, Terran McCanna <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:tmccanna@georgialibraries.org" target="_blank">tmccanna@georgialibraries.org</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div>Thanks Ron, those procedures seem very reasonable. They both allow the community to be aware that discussions are happening, and they also reduce the possibility of some board members not having enough notice in order to be able to participate. <br><br></div><div>If there are truly reasons for an emergency meeting to be called without a standard meeting notice time period, perhaps they can be clarified - just a suggestion, but maybe they can only be called if all Board Members can attend instead of just a quorum? <br></div><div><br>In response to Mike: <br><span><br>>> Should we make it explicit that, unless otherwise mentioned, all meeting rules remain the same?<<<br><br></span></div><div>Yes, I think that would be helpful.<span><br><br>>>Perhaps it would be worthwhile to evaluate some non-normative examples of reasons for a session in this discussion, so that everyone is on<br>
the same page. Terran, do you have any you would like to bring up specifically?<<<br><br></span></div><div>To be honest, I have not been able to think of any especially good reasons, which is why I am putting so much emphasis on these rules being unquestionably clear. You mentioned that current board members have access to records of previous Executive Sessions - where are those stored? Perhaps if I review those I'll gain a better understanding of the types of sensitive issues that the Board has faced in the past. <br><br></div><div><br></div><div></div><div>Another sentence that I have a question about is:<br><br>"Those communications should be treated as privileged and confidential unless the legal counsel of the SFC and the officers of the Board specifically agree that the information, or portion thereof, may be discussed publicly."<br><br></div><div>I would like "officers of the Board" to be clarified - does that mean that all of the officers should agree? Or a majority of officers? Or should it really be a majority of the Board? <br></div><div><br></div><div>Thanks,<br></div><div>Terran<br></div><div><br><br><br><br><br><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><span><br clear="all"><div><div><div dir="ltr">Terran McCanna <br>PINES Program Manager <br>Georgia Public Library Service <br>1800 Century Place, Suite 150 <br>Atlanta, GA 30345 <br><a href="tel:404-235-7138" value="+14042357138" target="_blank">404-235-7138</a> <br><a href="mailto:tmccanna@georgialibraries.org" target="_blank">tmccanna@georgialibraries.org</a> <br><br></div></div></div>
<br></span><div class="gmail_quote"><span>On Wed, May 25, 2016 at 8:43 AM, Gagnon, Ron <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:gagnon@noblenet.org" target="_blank">gagnon@noblenet.org</a>></span> wrote:<br></span><div><div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div><div><div>Grace and all,<br></div>In experiences I have heard of, which is backed by Robert's Rules, a regular board meeting happens and then there is a vote to go into executive session. So in light of that, the existence of the executive session is known as part of the regular meeting minutes, but not the subject or the content. And the executive session only happens if there is a majority willing to do so. I believe one then closes the executive session, and if there is no other regular business, adjourns the meeting.<br><br></div>A special meeting can be called, the executive session does not have to be within a regularly-scheduled meeting, and the special board meeting will have the usual notice and minutes requirements.<span><font color="#888888"><br><br></font></span></div><span><font color="#888888">Ron<br></font></span></div><div class="gmail_extra"><div><div><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, May 24, 2016 at 6:25 PM, Grace Dunbar <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:gdunbar@esilibrary.com" target="_blank">gdunbar@esilibrary.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><p dir="ltr">Sorry for the noise... My thumbs are extra thumby today.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Ron and Ruth, I know both of you have a lot of Board experience outside of the EOB. In your experience, what's the"norm" with regard to notice of a meeting or other issues Terran raised?<br>
Grace</p>
<p dir="ltr">sent from my phone, apologies for brevity and autocorrect</p>
<div class="gmail_quote">On May 24, 2016 6:22 PM, "Grace Dunbar" <<a href="mailto:gdunbar@esilibrary.com" target="_blank">gdunbar@esilibrary.com</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><p dir="ltr"></p>
<p dir="ltr">sent from my phone, apologies for brevity and autocorrect</p>
<div class="gmail_quote">On May 24, 2016 5:37 PM, "Mike Rylander" <<a href="mailto:mrylander@gmail.com" target="_blank">mrylander@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">Terran,<br>
<br>
Regarding calling an Executive Session: "the Chairperson, the Vice<br>
Chairperson, or any three (3) Board members may call an Executive<br>
Session of the Board." No change to meeting and voting quorum is<br>
mentioned, so my reading is that those remain the same as for any<br>
other meeting. Does anyone read that differently? Should we make it<br>
explicit that, unless otherwise mentioned, all meeting rules remain<br>
the same?<br>
<br>
Participation seems clear to me: "only members of the body that is<br>
meeting and special invitees as the body or its officers determine to<br>
be necessary are allowed to attend." Grace and Ruth, maybe "the body<br>
that is meeting" in the third paragraph should be replaced by "the<br>
EOB" to be explicit?<br>
<br>
As to explicitly prescribing specific acceptable reasons for calling<br>
an Executive Session, I worry that would have a chilling effect on the<br>
ability of the Board to address potentially sensitive issues. That, I<br>
think, is something we don't want to invite. The point of creating a<br>
framework for these rare cases is to remove the chilling effect of<br>
publicly discussing sensitive topics, and I don't think we should<br>
replace one with another.<br>
<br>
Public announcement is an interesting question. An Executive Session<br>
is often, by its nature, a "time is of the essence" issue, so I don't<br>
think a public announcement before hand should be required, or even<br>
desirable in some cases.<br>
<br>
I am on the fence as to whether publicly reporting the existence of<br>
such a session after the fact should be required, since the relevant<br>
individuals, present and future Board members, will have access to the<br>
institutional memory and content of the event. Also, the timing of an<br>
Executive Session may well imply its content -- out of band<br>
information leakage, to put it in technical parlance -- so maybe<br>
reporting the occurrence of such a session should be something that is<br>
addressed as a matter of course during the session, with the default<br>
being "no disclosure." I'm open to any opinions here, but I see it as<br>
a mild chilling risk to important action the Board may want to take to<br>
protect the Project.<br>
<br>
Perhaps it would be worthwhile to evaluate some non-normative examples<br>
of reasons for a session in this discussion, so that everyone is on<br>
the same page. Terran, do you have any you would like to bring up<br>
specifically?<br>
<br>
Thanks,<br>
<br>
--<br>
Mike Rylander<br>
| President<br>
| Equinox Software, Inc. / Open Your Library<br>
| phone: 1-877-OPEN-ILS (673-6457)<br>
| email: <a href="mailto:miker@esilibrary.com" target="_blank">miker@esilibrary.com</a><br>
| web: <a href="http://www.esilibrary.com" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.esilibrary.com</a><br>
<br>
<br>
On Tue, May 24, 2016 at 4:56 PM, Terran McCanna<br>
<<a href="mailto:tmccanna@georgialibraries.org" target="_blank">tmccanna@georgialibraries.org</a>> wrote:<br>
> Grace and Ruth,<br>
><br>
> Thank you for the hard work that's been put in already.<br>
><br>
> I've been mulling it over since yesterday, and I think overall it reads very<br>
> well, but that it should be more explicit about what types of situations<br>
> would constitute the need for an Executive Session or for a private email<br>
> list conversation to ensure that they are only used if absolutely necessary.<br>
> The current language is somewhat vague and words like 'sensitive' and<br>
> 'prudent' can be subjective.<br>
><br>
> I know that none of us want to give anyone a reason to think that the EOB is<br>
> making decisions behind closed doors, or even worse, for a private meeting<br>
> to actually end up causing accusations of unfairness / abuse of power /<br>
> conflict of interest / etc. that may have been avoided had the meeting been<br>
> open in the first place.<br>
><br>
> Perhaps incorporating a few example scenarios of situations that would call<br>
> for an Executive Session would be useful to help clarify the need, both for<br>
> the community members, and for those of us who may be on the fence as to<br>
> whether a problem should be discussed openly or privately.<br>
><br>
> I think it would also be useful if it were clearer about the scheduling and<br>
> participation of an Executive Session... Do these meetings follow the same<br>
> quorum rules as the public meetings? Do the meetings get posted when<br>
> scheduled so that the community knows that they are happening? Do they have<br>
> to be scheduled with a certain amount of lead time to allow all board<br>
> members to arrange their schedules, or can they be called at any time?<br>
><br>
> Regards,<br>
> Terran<br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> Terran McCanna<br>
> PINES Program Manager<br>
> Georgia Public Library Service<br>
> 1800 Century Place, Suite 150<br>
> Atlanta, GA 30345<br>
> <a href="tel:404-235-7138" value="+14042357138" target="_blank">404-235-7138</a><br>
> <a href="mailto:tmccanna@georgialibraries.org" target="_blank">tmccanna@georgialibraries.org</a><br>
><br>
><br>
> On Mon, May 23, 2016 at 2:18 PM, Grace Dunbar <<a href="mailto:gdunbar@esilibrary.com" target="_blank">gdunbar@esilibrary.com</a>><br>
> wrote:<br>
>><br>
>> Hi all,<br>
>> Ruth and I have been working on the wording of adding language to the<br>
>> Rules of Governance regarding the Executive Session. I have not checked in<br>
>> with the SFC yet for their input as I wanted to hear from the group if they<br>
>> felt that this was on the right track.<br>
>><br>
>> Any/all thoughts are welcome.<br>
>> Cheers!<br>
>> Grace<br>
>><br>
>> --<br>
>> Grace Dunbar, Vice President<br>
>> Equinox - Open Your Library<br>
>> <a href="mailto:gdunbar@esilibrary.com" target="_blank">gdunbar@esilibrary.com</a><br>
>> 1-877-OPEN-ILS | <a href="http://www.esilibrary.com" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">www.esilibrary.com</a><br>
>><br>
>><br>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br></div></div><span>-- <br><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div>Ronald A. Gagnon<br></div>Executive Director<br></div>North Of Boston Library Exchange (NOBLE)<br></div>Danvers, Massachusetts 01923<br><a href="tel:978-777-8844" value="+19787778844" target="_blank">978-777-8844</a><br></div><a href="http://www.noblenet.org" target="_blank">www.noblenet.org</a><br></div></div>
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