WABASH COUNTY, Ind. – City Attorney Randi Zimmerman-Irgang, in a letter to The Paper of Wabash County editor Joseph Slacian, responded to allegations that the City of Wabash and the Wabash City Council violated the Indiana Open Door Law earlier this week.
On Tuesday, the Council interviewed six candidates for two vacant seats on the Wabash City Schools Board. The interviews were conducted without having provided the proper 48-hour notice, as required by the Open Door Law.
Slacian sent notice to Mayor Scott Long, City Attorney Randi Zimmerman-Irgang, as well as Council President Doug Adams and Council member Bryan Dillon, who serves as liaison between the Council and the City Schools board, about the violation.
The Paper asked officials to rectify the situation by conducting the interviews again, in open session, after having given proper notification to the media and the public. If the situation wasn’t rectified, The Paper was prepared to file a formal complaint with the Indiana Public Access Counselor’s office.
Zimmerman-Irgang, in the letter to The Paper on Friday afternoon, said she had contacted Indiana Public Access Counselor Luke Britt to discuss the matter.
“After a lengthy discussion, we concluded that in this instance we have a different interpretation of the open door policy,” Zimmerman-Irgang wrote in the letter.
Asked to clarify who “we” was, she said, “I believe that we all have a different interpretation.”
For more on the story, see the Dec. 6 issue of The Paper of Wabash County.