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RELEVANT LINKS: It is important to remember that the use of social media by councilmembers could still be used to support other claims such as claims of defamation or of conflict of interest or bias in decision-making. As a result, councilmembers should make sure that any comments they make on social media are factually correct and should not comment on issues that will come before the council in the future for a quasi-judicial hearing and decision, such as the consideration of whether to grant an application for a conditional use permit. See II G 4 - Serial meetings. It is also important to remember that serial discussions between less than a quorum of the council could violate the open meeting law under certain circumstances. As a result, city councils and other public bodies should take a conservative approach and should not use telephone calls, email, or other technology to communicate back and forth with other members of the public body if both of the following circumstances exist: • A quorum of the council or public body will be contacted regarding the same matter. • City business is being discussed. Minn. Stat. § 13.02, subd. 7. Another thing councilmembers should be careful about is which email account they use to receive emails relating to city business because such emails would likely be considered government data that is subject to a public-records request under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act (MGDPA). The best option would be for each councilmember to have an individual email account that the city provides and city staff manage. However, this is not always possible for cities due to budget, size, or logistics. If councilmembers don’t have a city email account, there are some things to think about before using a personal email account for city business. First, preferably only the councilmember should have access to the personal email account. Using a shared account with other family members could lead to incorrect information being communicated from the account, or incoming information being inadvertently deleted. Also, since city emails are government data, city officials may have to separate personal emails from city emails when responding to a public-records request under the MGDPA. Second, if the account a city councilmember wants to use for city business is tied to a private employer, that private employer may have a policy that restricts this kind of use. League of Minnesota Cities Handbook for Minnesota Cities 10/2/2014 Meetings, Motions, Resolutions, and Ordinances Chapter 7 | Page 22