Quote:
Originally Posted by Descant
Chance meetings, attendance at anything from a seminar to a testimonial dinner are all OK. You don't have to avoid fellow officials. There may be a fine line between gathering information and "voting". You can't vote via telephone or email, but you can certainly gather information.
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Right! I'm quite certain under the sprit of the law having a discussion about something even if it is in an official capacity outside a formal meeting shouldn't be a problem. It seems where there is a problem in this case is that there was never any public discussion or opportunity for public discourse before a decision was made - this was all wink wink nod nod behind closed doors and that's where these guys went wrong. Or at least that is what is has an appearance of regardless of whether or not that is indeed the case.
Unfortunately it seems that our elected officials at all levels of government are becoming more and more like royalty rather than representatives and worst yet not only consider themselves above the law but have enough political clout to actually circumvent it with no repercussions. Sadly this continues so long as people continue to support and put these people in office in fact it encourages this behavior simply because it does not cost them their jobs.