Out in the open — Minutes, officials account for executive sessions’ reasons, time
Wyoming state law lists the reasons why public bodies may meet privately in executive session, but because the public and press aren’t allowed to witness those meetings or examine their minutes, closed door sessions open a door to potential abuse of executive session privilege.
What can be determined from the public record is how much time local governments spend in executive session, and what reasons are given for using those exceptions to Wyoming’s Open Meetings and Public Records Law. The News Letter Journal compared the amount of time spent in executive session in 2024 by each of the four boards in Weston County
with the largest budgets spent in executive session, and asked board chairs to comment on whether that time was justified.
School board
The Weston County School District No. 1 board of trustees held 17 meetings in 2024, and 12 of those meetings included executive sessions. Overall, the board met for a total of 2,035 minutes, with 870, or 42.8%, of those minutes being in executive session. The most common reasons given for the executive sessions were discussion of personnel matters, such as Superintendent Brad LaCroix’s contract, and legal updates.
“I can tell you that anytime we have moved into executive sessions, we make certain we comply with the statutory requirements in place for
protecting employee and student confidentiality, security threats, the presentation of legal advice, etc., that require an executive session,” Chair Dana Mann-Tavegia told the NLJ.
She said the topics covered in executive sessions “tend to be very serious, and we treat them as such.” The board needs to take its time to understand the situation,
the projected practical and legal ramifications of choices, and each party’s perspective, she said.
“It would not be prudent, nor would it be fair to rush through any of those sessions,” she said.
“We take the time we need to do the best we can to fully understand the topic at hand, and to do the jobs for which we were elected. We have had more situations that mandate executive sessions in the past couple years, but each of those has received the proper amount of our attention and due diligence. The only path provided to us by statute is to act in good faith, as we have been doing.”
City council
The Newcastle City Council held 23 meetings in 2024, for a total of 1,788 minutes. Eight meetings included executive sessions, and the total time spent in executive session was 248 minutes, or 13.9% of its total meeting time.
The stated reasons were almost always personnel, but the minutes once further specified that the reason was an extended leave of absence for an employee. Real estate was the reason for the executive session on two occasions.
Pam Gualtieri, who was mayor at the time, told the NLJ that many situations in 2024, such as employee turnover, involved city employees and needed to be discussed in executive session because they are personnel matters.
“With it being a personnel issue and things to that factor, even though it’s taxpayers’ funds, it’s still a private matter,” Gualtieri said. “If there was any decision made, obviously, a motion and stuff would be made outside of executive session.”
The outgoing mayor said she wished more citizens would have participated in the open portions of the meetings because that would have made them longer and improved communication, and the newly elected mayor said he is willing to explore options to conduct more business publicly.
The current mayor, Tyrel Owens, told the NLJ that he wants to find ways for the council to be more transparent, “handle more business in the public eye” and use executive sessions less frequently. He said he will consult with legal counsel immediately before scheduling executive sessions to determine if the subject matter to be discussed would be the most appropriate action.
“I want to be transparent, I want to do good work for the town,” he said. “I don’t agree with going into executive session all the time, although it is necessary.”
County commissioners
The Weston County Board of Commissioners held 29 meetings in 2024. Of the 4,334 minutes the board met, 173 minutes, or 4% of the time,
was in executive sessions. Both of those figures were the lowest recorded for the four boards the NLJ is tracking in Weston County, and the reasons cited for going into executive session were usually “potential litigation” or “personnel.”
Former Chairman Don Taylor presided over the majority of the meetings in 2024, but did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
Hospital board
The Weston County Health Services board held 26 meetings in 2024. At the time of this writing, minutes were unavailable for the meetings held on Feb. 1, May 2 and Aug. 27. Minutes lacked start and end times for either the overall meeting time or the executive session or sessions for the meetings held on the following dates: April 18, July 11, July 31, and Aug. 29.
Dorothy Briggs, who was the board president until the May 7 election, told the NLJ that she had no comment, and Ann Slagle, who has been the board president since that date, did not respond to a request for comment.
Over the year, excluding minutes of meetings that lacked minutes or meeting time documentation, the board accumulated a total of 4,429 minutes, of which 2,119 were in executive session, or 48%. The meetings over which Briggs presided lasted for 1,042 minutes, and 445 of those minutes, or 43%, were in executive session.
After Briggs, 1,674 of 3,026 total meeting minutes were held in executive session, meaning that the board spent 55% of its meeting time behind closed doors.
Common reasons given in 2024 for meeting in executive session included “the appointment of a professional person” and “considering or receiving information classified as confidential by law.”
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The News Letter Journal intends to track the use of executive sessions by these boards throughout the course of 2025, and will provide a monthly report that will allow the community to monitor the amount of time their elected officials are spending in closed sessions.