Two open meeting complaints were recently filed against the City of Paducah following a July 28 video teleconferenced commission meeting plagued by interruptions and technological glitches.

This prompted one complainant, WPSD Local 6, to assert:

"Any reasonable person viewing this event cannot help but believe it failed to allow the citizens of this community the responsible governance and access to the public's business to which they are entitled."

Commissioner Richard Abraham filed the second open meetings complaint, echoing WPSD's allegations.

The two and a half hour meeting — during which commissioners reviewed and acted on "major and controversial multi-million dollar projects" — was not live-streamed on YouTube as indicated in the meeting notice due to technical problems, was inaudible at times, was punctuated by static, and, in some cases, failed to project all commissioners simultaneously.

WPSD-6 does a deep dive into the requirements of the open meetings law, as modified by Senate Bill 150 in response to the pandemic, and the Kentucky Attorney General's guidance on implementation of the modified laws.

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/20RS/sb150.html

https://ag.ky.gov/Priorities/Government-Transparency/opinions/Opinions%…

Reporter Thomas Capps and Station Manager Perry Boxx focus on the general requirements of the current laws — which are aimed at securing the public's right to know in these unprecedented times — and how, specifically, the commission's July 28 meeting violated the laws.

Whatever the challenges public agencies face, however great the competing demands might be, "almost" isn't good enough in the context of compliance with a law that "rightly favors openness, fosters transparency, and secures the public trust."

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ky-court-of-appeals/1726554.html