The Oklahoma Public Employees Association is outraged at the shenanigans used today by the state Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services during a meeting that will leave 100 employees without a job.
“The DMHSAS Board today RIFd 100 employees, which is the most severe action taken this year against state employees,” said OPEA Executive Director Sterling Zearley. “OPEA believes the vote to close programs and reduce staff was a clear violation of the Open Meetings Act.”
The actions were taken under an agenda item titled “Discussion and Possible Action Regarding Monthly Financial Report.” According to the Oklahoma Statutes Title 25, Section 303, “All meetings of such public bodies…shall be preceded by advance public notice specifying the time and place of each such meeting to be convened as well as the subject matter or matters to be considered at such meeting.” In a similar case, Wilson vs. City of Tecumseh, 194 P.3d 140 (OK CIV APP. 2008) the court found the City’s failure to properly notify the public of the intended action in the agenda was a willful violation the Open Meetings Act and thereby rendered the vote null and void as a matter of law. See Id. at 145.
“In addition to not providing notice of the agenda items, the DMHSAS Board violated the spirit of the law by not allowing an OPEA staff member to ask a question before the action was taken,” continued Zearley. “The Board discussed and took this action using documents that were not provided to the press or those attending the meeting and failed to take any questions regarding the matter.”
“DMHSAS is the first agency to take such drastic action in the budget shortfall,” Zearley said. “OPEA believes that agencies should cut contracts by at least five percent before closing state operated services and RIFing employees. While DMHSAS said at the meeting they were reducing contracts, they did not reveal by how much or what was in their secret documents.”
Posted on
Fri, November 13, 2009
by Mark Beutler