Recently Asked Questions (RAQs)

Our public library Board of Trustees is wondering if the meetings of their committees (Personnel Committee, Finance Committee, Policy Review Committee, etc) need to adhere to the requirements of the NYS Open Meetings Law like we do with the full Board Meetings. Because ED § 260-a mentions cities with a population of over one million (we do not reach this threshold), some say that the committee meetings do not need to adhere to the requirements of the Open Meetings Law, but others argue that this part of Education Law doesn't seem to delineate between Full Board meetings and Committee meetings, so if we follow the OML requirements for one, we should follow them for all. However, this would represent a huge shift in how our Board gets its work done, as they do not currently advertise the committee meetings or post minutes, and they frequently conduct these meetings via Zoom.

Our by-laws name certain committees as committees of the corporation --- "No such committee shall have the authority to bind the board. Members of such committees of the corporation, who may be non-trustees, unless otherwise designated, shall be appointed by the President."

Can the non-trustee members of a committee vote if one is called for in the committee? It seems like they could because the committee can't bind the board, however we could see where their vote within a committee might mean that something isn't brought to the full board.

Related to this, should we amend the by-laws to specify them as voting/non-voting members of committees?

Thank you!