Comments Scrubbed from Council Meeting Minutes

What should the minutes reflect? That question was posed Monday during the University City City Council meeting.

Council member Byron Price objected to the minutes of the city's June 11 council meeting after noticing that several comments he made weren't included in the official minutes.

"I know I was at this meeting and I know I commented on items, but they are not included in minutes," Price said. "It's like I never existed."

City Clerk Joyce Pumm told the council that after seeking a legal opinion from the city's attorney Paul Martin, she streamlined the council meetings to only include information on action taken and not comments made.

Price said that the council's minutes have always included the conversations of council members and a change should not have been made without the consent of council.

"Constituents don't know what I said now," he said. "It's not part of the record."

Martin said he gave general legal advice about the state of the minutes.

"It is much better to keep minutes factual and keep comments out," he said.

Price then asked if Martin was insinuating that his comments were not factual. Martin said he was not speaking to whether comments were factual or not; his opinion was merely based on the legal liability of having them in the minutes.

"This is how we have been doing it for my four terms and 14 years on the council," Price said. "No way will I tolerate this person (Martin) and the city clerk censoring what the public has a right to hear."

Council member Paulette Carr said she noticed that under the minutes about the presentation of an aquatic report, comments by Council member Stephen Kraft were noted, but ones that she made and others by Council members Terry Crow, Price and Mayor Shelley Welsch were not.

"We have long been reporting the conversations of the council," Carr said. "Before we would change that policy, I would hope that we would have a conversation."

Crow agreed with Carr, saying he understood the basis for Martin's legal opinion, but hoped that staff would check with the council before acting.

"A large part of research on the law is the comments made and legislative history of it," Crow said. "I understand that we have exposure to comments we made. We have to stand behind those. This was an inappropriate administrative act."

A vote to approve the minutes of the June 11 regular council meeting was postponed.