Berlin mayor, council defend intentions over open meeting

By Jack Chavez Staff Writer

(April 13, 2023) Two weeks after receiving the second violation in two years from the Maryland Open Meeting Compliance Board, Berlin’s elected officials are making it known they’re not taking the matter lightly.

And they’d also appreciate it if residents cut them a little slack.

At the end of the mayor and council meeting on Monday, Councilmember Jack Orris broached the topic of the violation from two weeks ago when the compliance board notified the town that a January closed meeting regarding the Berlin Fire Company’s contract needed to be open to the public.

“It’s kind of coming clearer to me that the manual itself is sort of a living document. As the compliance board gets opinions, it seems they update it,” Orris said, pointing out that the last update was in October 2022.

“Since it seems to be updated fairly regularly, I would throw out as a suggestion that we have a copy of the manual with our financial disclosures every year. My point is it’s a living document. It’s changing. It’s adding opinions, citations. It’s adding clarification, in my opinion, on some things.”

Councilmember Shaneka Nichols supported the idea of staying up to date on the board’s opinions and asked if they could be notified when something changes.

“They are their own entity,” Town Administrator Mary Bohlen answered. “They do what they do. I would say this — there are so many documents that could be provided to you to keep you abreast of all the latest information. It’s a lot.”

Mayor Zack Tyndall added, on top of that, the board’s opinions are open for interpretation.

“Maybe the best practice is to bookmark that link (on the board’s website) and then you have the most recent version and you can consult it as appropriate,” he suggested.

Councilmember Dean Burrell, however, said it is incumbent upon the mayor and Town Council to keep themselves current on what they can and cannot do.

“Don’t forget the government can’t be all things and all people,” Burrell said. “There is a responsibility that we have to take. Information these days is so available. We all walk around with (smartphones) in our pockets or our computers, and we sometimes have to take the responsibility of searching for (answers) ourselves. I would prefer having that responsibility myself. I See BERLIN Page 5