Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Shawano city officials and staff who sit in on closed session meetings could face fines if anything discussed behind closed doors is shared outside of those meetings.
The Shawano Common Council on Wednesday will consider an ordinance that would levy a $187 fine, including fees and court costs, for the first violation, and a $439 fine for subsequent offenses.
The finance committee recommended approval of the ordinance Monday.
However, Alderman Bob Kurkiewicz said he would like to see some discretion available for first offenses that would allow for options, such as a warning or censure by the council.
He also wondered whether the ordinance was necessary given that officials have so far kept closed session discussions confidential.
“Up to now, common sense has prevailed,” he said.
State statutes already lay down policies for closed session meetings and what can be discussed outside the public view, including contract negotiations and personnel matters, but leaves it to local governments to determine how that information is handled afterward.
“In order to have any expectation of confidentiality in closed session, the city itself has to set its own rules,” City Administrator Brian Knapp said. “The statute doesn’t prohibit (closed session discussions) from being shared.”
Mayor Jeanne Cronce said there was no specific incident or any leak of closed session discussions that prompted the ordinance.
“It’s just something they’ve been thinking about for a while,” she said. “We want to be proactive and have good rules in place.”
However, she said, bits and pieces of information related to closed session topics sometimes show up on Facebook.
Cronce said that information is generally public speculation, and not anything that has come directly from a closed session discussion. Once it’s shared on social media, it seems to take on a life of its own.
“It’s like the telephone game,” she said.
Cronce also said the ordinance would not affect dissemination of information intended to be public, such as actions taken by the council after closed session discussions end or documents that become public record once the council has voted on them.
The Common Council will take the ordinance up at its meeting at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall, 127 S. Sawyer St.