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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, August 10, 2009 Page 6 Ayes: Pust; Johnson; Roe and Klausing. Nays: None. b. Approve Electronic Communications Policy City Manager Malinen presented the most recent draft of an Electronic Commu- nication Policy for the City Council, based on previous drafts and discussions and suggestions of individual Councilmembers and the City Attorney. Mayor Klausing questioned Page I, line 36 (III. Communications with members of the public); and intent of the language for confidentiality and whether that should be up to the Councilmember. Councilmember Pust observed that expectations couldn't be legislated; and sug- gested the word "expect" be replaced with "require." City Attorney Anderson concurred with Councilmember Pust's point, and opined that her suggested language change would be a better choice, and would be con- sistent with State Statute, allowing that either the sender or recipient could choose that correspondence remain private. Mayor Klausing further addressed page 2, line 10 - 12 related to individual Coun- cilmembers copying each other on specific inquiries. City Attorney Anderson advised that this language originated with the sample or- dinance provided by the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust (LMCIT) re- lated to serial communications that were in violation of Open Meeting Law; how- ever, he opined that the statement achieved nothing, and that the City's proposed draft ordinance, Item VI, addressing communication outside the realm of a Coun- cil meeting, provided sufficient language and intent under the law, and to avoid backchannel discussions. ~° Councilmember Pust opined that, if not prohibited, why state the language at all; acknowledging that backdoor communication wasn't being invited, but that there was no need to do more than the law required, to allow for a balance between ef- ficiency and transparency, which should be clear in other areas of the draft policy. Discussion among Councilmembers included specific examples of potential in- quiries that the entire Council may wish to know about; with Council consensus determining that the last sentence (lines 11 and 12) be deleted entirely. Mayor Klausing further addressed language of the first bullet point on page 2, line 27 and 28, (Section V. Communication during Council meetings), and questioned the intent of that language.