WHY WAS THE DEAL NEGOTIATED IN SECRET?
It shouldn't have been.
And... the NYS Department of State Agrees! Read the 2/27/06 advisory opinion issued by the Executive Director of the Committe on Open Government.
The NY Open Meetings or "Sunshine" Law of 1977 gives the public the right to attend nearly all meetings of public bodies.
The law states: "It is essential to the maintenance of a democratic society that the public business be performed in an open and public manner and that the citizens of this state be fully aware of and able to observe the performance of public officials and attend and listen to the deliberations and decisions that go into the making of public policy."
It appears that Mayor Tom Gunderson and the Aurora Village Board of Trustees illegally banned the public and met in closed �executive session� after its regular meetings in September, October, November and December 2005 to undertake secret negotiations and discussions which lead to the Memorandum of Agreement concerning our village's publicly owned real estate.
According to the NYS Department of State, "a public body cannot close its doors to the public to discuss the subject of its choice, for the law specifies and limits the subject matter that may appropriately be discussed in executive session. The eight subjects that may be discussed behind closed doors include:
1) matters which will imperil the public safety if disclosed;
2) any matter which may disclose the identity of a law enforcement agency or informer;
3) information relating to current or future investigation or prosecution of a criminal offense which would imperil effective law enforcement if disclosed;
4) discussions regarding proposed, pending or current litigation;
5) collective negotiations pursuant to Article 14 of the Civil Service Law;
6) the medical, financial, credit or employment history of a particular person or corporation, or matters leading to the appointment, employment, promotion, demotion, discipline, suspension, dismissal or removal of a particular person or corporation;
7) the preparation, grading or administration of examinations; and
8) the proposed acquisition, sale or lease of real property or the proposed acquisition of securities, or sale or exchange of securities held by such public body, but only when publicity would substantially affect the value thereof.
These are the only subjects that may be discussed behind closed doors; all other deliberations must be conducted during open meetings."
The only allowed subject remotely related to the situation in Aurora is #8. But no property sale was considered in the P.O - Parkland deal, no appraised value determined, no exchange of monies contemplated. Had publicity affected the value of the properties, it wouldn't have made any difference as they were not up for sale.
Furthermore, the law was broken in the manner in which the meetings were closed. According to the NYS Department of State: "To close a meeting for executive session, the law requires that a public body take several procedural steps. First, a motion must be made during an open meeting to enter into executive session; second, the motion must identify 'the general area or areas of the subject or subjects to be considered;' and third, the motion must be carried by a majority vote of the total membership of a public body."
These steps were not followed by our Village Board.
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This page last updated March 2, 2006.