Letter to the Editor
I take no joy in writing this article, but I do believe the public has a right to know what I can prove and what I believe to be true based on the events I have witnessed to the best of my knowledge.
Fact – I attended the Dec. 17 (Shelby) County Council meeting because one of the items on the council’s agenda was a broadband hearing. After the hearing began, it was disclosed that the council’s attorney, Jason Clark, had connections with an internet provider. This information is not in the Dec. 17 meeting minutes.
Fact – At this time, the council president presented the council with an agreement with the firm of Bose, McKinney and Evans, LLP, to help with reviewing the broadband contract. The motion to approve passed 7-0. This action is in the Dec.17 minutes.
Fact – A representative of the firm spoke to the council, virtually on screen. The first thing she said was that any action taken by the council at this hearing, would be illegal due to the fact that no notification was posted in the local newspaper seven days in advance of the hearing, notifying the public of the hearing. Everyone in attendance at the meeting witnessed this. This information is not in the Dec. 17 meeting minutes.
Fact – I obtained a paper copy of the Dec. 17 meeting minutes and realized that the information disclosed in the hearing had been left out of the minutes of the meeting. I also have a paper copy of the Jan. 21 meeting minutes in which the council voted to adopt the minutes of the Dec. 17 meeting without adding the information left out and disclosed in the hearing. The motion passed 4-0-3. The three new council members could not vote yet.
Fact – I brought this discrepancy up to the council at the April 15 council meeting. Amy Glackman spoke up and said that she was not required to record every little item in the meeting minutes and that she had made a mistake by leaving this info out. This was the second opportunity that the council had to amend the Dec. 17 meeting minutes. There was no interest nor attempt by President Bret Haacker, Leigh Langkabel, Kyle Barlow and Nick O’Connor to correct the Dec. 17 meeting minutes to record the hearing accurately, and that puzzled me.
Conclusion – It took me a while, but I finally connected the dots. Looking at the minutes of the Dec. 17 meeting, I realized that the word “hearing” did not appear in the minutes anywhere, there was no documented record that a hearing had taken place at all. Given the information disclosed by the representative from the firm of Bose, McKinney and Evans, LLP, that any action taken by the council would be illegal due to the lack of a 7-day notification and that fact that they did take action on two motions in the hearing (adopting 7-0 on both) could be enough incentive to leave out the reference to a hearing and the 7-days notification requirement to have a hearing.
Since there was no record of a hearing taking place at the Dec. 17 meeting, those minutes could not be used as evidence of any wrongdoing if a complaint or charge for a violation of the Open Door Law or falsification of government records was filed. Everyone attending the Dec. 17 meeting witnessed the short hearing play out.
Opinion – The hardest thing for me to understand is how the four council members who voted to adopt the Dec. 17 meeting minutes, knowing they were incomplete, could allow Amy Glackman to throw herself under the bus and take the blame for this mess when they had two opportunities to amend the Dec. 17 meeting minutes, and they let them go. What lengths are county government leadership willing to go to avoid a stain on their integrity.
The public deserves to know if the trust in our elected officials has been violated and I believe this matter warrants an investigation by the state’s Attorney General’s Office to determine whether a crime has been committed.
Michael W. Carpenter
429 W. 400 South
Shelbyville, Indiana
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