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M� MW 2. Inte. iriv,19"WS The Nlinnesota Supreme Court has held that aschoof hoard must inte-rview prospective employees for administrative positions in open sessions. The court said that the absence of a statutory exnception indicaticzA that the Legislature had decided that sucti sess-ions should not be closed. The reasoning would seem to, apply to city council inter-views of prospective officers and, employees as well, if a quorum is Present. In 11.196, a district court found that it was not a violation. of' the -open 111eCtiDg law for candidates to be serially interviewed by inembers of a city council in one-on-one closed interviews. In this case, five city ckjullcil members were present in the same building but each was conductinor Separate intei-views in five different roorns, Becarise there was no quoruin present in ally of the roorns, the court found there was jao meeting. The decision., however, was appealed. In 19971 the Minnesota Court of Appeals reversed the district court's decision and remaiided the case back to it for a factual determination on whether the cit)r used the one-on-one interview process in order to avoid, the requirements of the open meeting la y. On remand, the district Court found that the private interviews were not conducted for the puil?ose of avoiding public he-r-trinors. The case was again ;D appealed. In an unpublished decision. the court of appeals agreed. The implication of this decis= appears to be that if serial meetings are held for the purpose of avoiding &D the requirements of the open rnec tin g law, it will constitute a viollation of the imv. Cities that are :P considering holding private interviews with job applicants should first consult their city attorney. 31. Executive sessions The attorney crenerial has advised that exccutivQ sessions, of a city council TRUst be open to the public. v. Chance oir soc�ial gatherings Chance or social gatherings of a quorum aTe, not considered ineetings under the open ineeting law and Z:) are therefore exempt from it. However, a quorum may not., as a group,, discuss or receive information on official business in any setting under the guise of a social gathering. I .In 1982, the Minnesota Supreme Court held that a conversation between two council members over lunch regarding an application for a special-use pennit did niolt violate the open meeting law because a quorum was riot present., A Good Start to Good Governance League of Minnesota Cities