BLAND — Bland aldermen and mayor appear to have conducted an unannounced meeting Monday afternoon to accept the city clerk’s July 22 resignation.

On July 26, a representative from the newspaper stopped by the John L. Baxter Administration Building and was informed that the entire board of aldermen and mayor were holding a meeting in the mayor’s office. When asked what the meeting pertained to, the clerk was not sure, only that she was told it was an emergency meeting.

Neither an agenda nor a declaration of emergency stating why the meeting was necessary was available. A public notice had also not been posted.

According to Missouri Sunshine Law 610.020 (1), “All public governmental bodies shall give notice of the time, date, and place of each meeting, and its tentative agenda, in a manner reasonably calculated to advise the public of the matters to be considered, if the meeting will be conducted by telephone or other electronic means.” It should also, “identify the mode by which the meeting will be conducted and the designated location where the public may observe and attend the meeting.”

It also states that,” Reasonable notice shall include making available copies of the notice to any representative of the news media who requests notice of meetings of a particular public governmental body concurrent with the notice being made available to the members of the particular governmental body and posting the notice on a bulletin board or other prominent place which is easily accessible to the public and and clearly designated for that purpose.”

In Missouri Sunshine Law 610.020 (2), “Notice conforming with all of the requirements of subsection 1 of this section shall be given at least 24-hours, exclusive of weekends and holidays when the facility is closed, prior to the commencement of any meeting of a governmental body unless for good cause such notice is impossible or impractical, in which case as much notice as is reasonably possible shall be given.”

The Advocate reporter waited for the meeting to adjourn and aldermen to leave Bland Mayor Lee Medlock’s office. When asked what they were meeting privately about, Alderman Diana Mayfield said they were meeting for a personnel issue to accept an employee’s resignation. Mayfield also claimed the matter met the emergency meeting standards.

Medlock said the meeting’s agenda was not available yet and that “Mayfield had a written copy of the declaration of emergency for the meeting, but it was also unavailable to the public as it had not been typed yet.”

According to Medlock, City Clerk Carrie Krupp’s resignation, dated July 22, 2021, was accepted with a 4-0 vote.

Given that city officials had a copy of the resignation from July 22-26 and had time to set up a 1 p.m. “emergency closed session meeting” that the clerk did not have knowledge of, it stands to reason they should have had time to post an agenda and a 24-hour notice for the meeting.

While minutes have not been made available to the newspaper, Medlock did say that the aldermen agreed to post the clerk’s open position in The Advocate.

The clerk’s resignation was the only resignation mentioned when asked about the meeting.

Krupp’s resignation was as follows:

“Dear Mayor Medlock,

Please accept this letter as formal notification of my resignation as City Clerk for the City of Bland. My last date of employment will be Tuesday, August 3, 2021.

Thank you for the opportunities you have provided me during my time here. I wish all of those who I’ve supported through this position continued success and hope that we can maintain a professional relationship.

I will miss working with many of my colleagues and residents.

Sincerely,

Carolyn S. Krupp

Cc: Bland Board of Aldermen”