Council should discuss matter in open session

It appears that the Nevada City Council is once again heading behind closed doors to conduct the public's business in the dark.

We understand that the council is planning to discuss the scope of the contract the city has with Adams & Associates for work on the parks sales tax projects in a closed session during tonight's council meeting.

The Missouri Sunshine Law is clear on what can and cannot be discussed behind closed doors and this does not appear to meet any of those conditions and certainly not the two reasons listed on the agenda for tonight's meeting.

It obviously does not fit into the second reason listed on the agenda for tonight's meeting, the discussion of hiring, firing or promoting a particular employee.

The first reason listed for the executive session tonight is for legal reasons and unless the city council is planning on filing some legal action against Adams & Associates that does not seem to fit either.

This contract was unanimously approved by the city council in 2005 after the parks and recreation board heard proposals from five different consultants in open meetings and it does not appear that discussion of changing or even terminating this contract should be discussed in secret.

Now there may be other valid reasons for holding an executive session during tonight's meeting, however, this issue is not one of them and any discussion of this contract should not be held in the dark, but rather in the sunshine.

This contract deals with projects using millions of dollars of public money and the public deserves to see and hear the process the council goes through to decide how to spend that money instead of just finding out later what they decided in secret.

-- Nevada Daily Mail