May 8, 2001
 
 
 
 Mr. Jack Schwartz
 Assistant Attorney General
 200 Saint Paul Place
 Baltimore, MD 21202
 
 Dear Mr. Schwartz:
 
 I am writing to you today as a concerned citizen of Allegany County, as well as a citizen who was recently excluded from a meeting of our County Commissioners and County Administrator, which I believe should have been open to the public.
 
 Our County Commissioners hold a meeting every Tuesday at 9:30 a.m., in which no notification is ever given to the public, nor are the items discussed ever disclosed in public session. In fact, they never vote to go into closed session, as is set out in the Open Meetings Act. The meeting is labeled as a briefing, and is attended by County Commissioners, James Stakem, Robert Hutcheson, and Dale Lewis, as well as County Administrator Vance Ishler, department heads and County staff when necessary, and County Attorney William Rudd.
 
 Based on research that I have completed, and contacts that I have made, I firmly believe that the Allegany County Commissioners are in clear violation of the “Sunshine Laws” of the State of Maryland.
 
 I base my beliefs on several key components of the Open Meetings Act. First, the County Attorney informed me that the meeting is similar to the Governor meeting with his Cabinet, and therefore is excluded from the Act. However, it clearly states in the Act that this exemption is only applicable if the County Commissioners serve as the legislative and executive heads of the County. In Allegany County’s case, they hire an Administrator, and therefore he is the executive head of the County. When the County Commissioners meet with the County Administrator, the gathering becomes a “public” meeting, unless details to be discussed are exempt as listed in the Open Meetings Act. Secondly, the County Attorney informed me that no final decisions are made during these meetings, as if to prove that the public should not have access to the proceedings. The Act states that the public is entitled to, “witness the phases of the deliberation, policy formation, and decision making of public bodies.” In fact the Court of Appeals offered the opinion in City of New Carrolton vs. Rogers that, “it is clear that the Act applies, not only to final decisions made by the public body exercising legislative functions at a public meeting, but as well as, to all deliberations which precede the actual legislative act or decision, unless authorized by the Act to be closed to the public.” The public in Allegany County is typically only permitted to witness the Commissioner’s final actions, and not the deliberation that precedes their decisions. Based on the text of the Act, this procedure is a violation. Next, the County Attorney told me that meetings with department heads exclude them from having to follow the public meeting procedures. The Act states, yet again, a contradiction to what I was told. This exemption applies only if specific issues of personnel matters are discussed, however it does not apply if the department head is presenting details to the Commissioners that are pertinent to the information-gathering process, and the formation of public policy. There are exemptions if the department head is speaking about a specific business’ possible expansion or relocation, but it does not automatically exclude generic conversations about the County’s policies on economic development or any other policies that the Commissioners choose to follow. In fact, an opinion of the Attorney General’s Office in 1986 concluded that information gathering is critical to the decision-making process, and must also be open to public view. The Board of County Commissioners also does not follow the Procedural Requirements for closing a meeting. They do not notify the public of the scheduled meeting, vote in public session to close the meeting, or notify the public of what was discussed during the closed session. None of these Procedural Requirements occur in Allegany County, and I encourage the Office of the Attorney General to investigate these examples, and help the citizens of this County to have better access to their government.
 
 Finally, I hope that the Commissioners of Allegany County would come to understand the spirit of the Open Meetings Act. The Act is to be “strictly construed” in favor of open meetings. After all, open meetings ensure accountability of government officials and make the public more effective participants in fulfilling its role in a democratic society.
 
 Sincerely,
 
 Chad W. Fornwalt