Before going into closed session on personnel matters at the request of Human Resources Committee chair Mary Emma Evans, the Henderson City Council voted to electronically record closed sessions of the council.
City council member Elissa Yount began the discussion by asking if the closed session needed to be recorded.
City Attorney John Zollicoffer responded that it was up to the council.
Yount told the council that recording the session was good for [City Clerk] Diane [White]’s protection.
Henderson Mayor Clem Seifert entered the conversation, telling the council that if it records one closed session, it needs to record all of them.
“You don’t want to frustrate the closed session,” he said.
Zollicoffer raised the question of what happens to the recording of the closed session.
Evans inquired as to where the recording is kept. White responded that there is a special locked cabinet in which such materials are stored.
“Do we not have enough trouble keeping up with stuff?” council member Lonnie Davis asked members.
Yount indicated to the council that most clerks stay in the closed session and record the session, unless the closed session is a personnel matter involved the clerk himself or herself.
Evans stated that she had a problem trusting confidentiality as “this moment”. She said she wanted someone to tell her how the information would be kept confidential.
Zollicoffer informed the council that although minutes of the closed session must be kept, those minutes need not be verbatim.
It has been standard practice for the city attorney to keep the minutes of closed council sessions for the Henderson City Council.
When Seifert called for a motion on the issue, Yount recommended that the council record closed session minutes based on a recommendation from the state.
Seifert asked who at the state had made the recommendation. He expressed the opinion that the motion should name the specific person who had suggested that the minutes be recorded.
The name of the individual could not be recalled by Yount or White.
Yount noted that the recording could always be destroyed once the minutes are prepared.
Before the vote, Evans expressed a desire that the council not go into closed session.
Seifert commented that the Journal Committee could come up with procedural rules for the recording of closed sessions in the future.
In the final vote, Davis and Evans opposed the motion.
After the uncharacteristicly short closed session, Evans was not present for the conclusion of the meeting.
After discussing a city property matter, Seifert stated that the council needs to stay out of personnel issues. He said that individual employees should refrain from contacting the members of the council and should instead go through “channels”.