Brentwood Aldermen Meeting with Auditor to be Closed, Sunshine Law Supports It
Resident Karen Smith said for transparency, the discussion of the state's audit of the city should be open.
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On Jan. 29 the Brentwood Board of Aldermen will meet with state auditors to review the state’s audit of the city.
The audit was initiated by a citizen-led petition drive, so resident Karen Smith said, in an effort for transparency the meeting should be open to Brentwood residents.
“It was paid for with taxpayer money, so I think the taxpayers have the right to be able to hear the results of that audit at the same time as the board of aldermen,” she said.
She said the meeting doesn’t qualify under the three topics that would justify going into a closed session, which are personnel, legal and real estate.
State auditor spokesperson Spence Jackson said the meeting is the exit meeting and is always closed.
“The report is still a draft and not yet approved by the state auditor, so it is not considered a final and public document,” he said in an email to Patch. “The purpose of the meeting it to discuss the draft report and ensure its accuracy, and begin the auditee response process.”
Spence said in a previous email that the board of aldermen's review will have no editing power over the audit.
He said the Missouri Sunshine Law allows meetings related to confidential communications between a public governmental body and its auditor to be closed. He cited Section 610.021 of the law.
Jackson said the meeting is a final piece of the audit, and the board's response will be included when it is released to the public, which is expected in early 2013.
Also in Patch:
- State Audit of Brentwood Started Last Week
- Residents Seek State Audit of Brentwood's Finances
- Brentwood Board of Aldermen to Review State's Audit in January
- State Audit Drive Supported by 1,000 Brentwood Residents
Mr. Completely
9:00 am on Friday, January 11, 2013
The former St.Clair MO fire chief was just charged with stealing 600K from the fire district. The city has already filed and collected an insurance claim to recover some of the loss before any trial or plea.
Remember how Brentwood handled the Seemayer theft. Allowed to resign, glowing letters of reference to the prosecutor from the mayor and some of the adlermen, pension, allowed to use uncollected sick-day pay to pay his 30K restitution. It'll be interesting to see how the deal in St. Clair shakes out. Bet it looks a lot different than how Brentwood handled Seemayer.
Also wondering if the ex-chief in St. Clair will get a going away party with cake and ice cream and a pension like the former Brentwood fire chief who didn't notice that for years his men colected no-show overtime payments. Perhaps he'll get prison like most crooks?
As far as the audit, at the end of the day do y'all really think that anything will change in Brentwood no matter how scathing the auditors report is?