MDOTer Minor admits quorum discussed business at dinner meeting

Last week Bobby Harrison wrote about Dick Hall's accusation that his fellow MDOT Commissioners violated the open meetings act. Now the Madison County Journal reports that Commissioner Bill Minor's response to Hall effectively admits the meeting violated the law.

Minor responded to Hall's complaint in a letter to the Ethics Commission dated Sept. 10 in which he claims multiple times that "there was no meeting" and it was only a dinner.

However, he does admit that the group discussed funding for the Reunion interchange, something experts say is a violation of the state's open meetings law.

"I will tell you that during that dinner we were asked, sinice the cost of the interchange at Reunion Parkway had gotten considerably higher, if we could put more money than the $6 million that we promised into it," Minor's letter reads. "We told him (Tim Johnson) no, that we did not have the money because we had just given $30 million to the Legislature for balancing the budget."

Hall called the letter an admission of guilt since it confirmed a majority of the commission was present discussing state business.

"He admitted they were there, admitted they discussed it (Reunion Interchange) and admitted they took action," Hall said. "There's no way they can't find them guilty of violating the open meetings law."

"I don't think the gentleman has ever read the law, or it hasn't been explained to him," Hall added. "He said everything I wanted him to say."

Attorney Leonard D. Van Slyke, who operates a legal hotline for the Mississippi Center for Freedom of Information, said he was unfamiliar with this particular case, but described what a violation would entail.

"A meeting occurs under the open meetings law, if a quorum is present and business is discussed," Van Slyke said. "That has been clearly established by the Mississippi Supreme Court."

There was a quorum. They discussed business. Case closed.