Georgia Attorney General Christopher Carr says the DeKalb Board of Commissioners' vote to give themselves 60-percent raises violated the state's open meeting law.
Because the 90-day window to challenge Open Meetings Act violations has passed, the Superior Court cannot review and possibly undo the vote. However, the court could determine that members violated the act and impose fines of up to $1,000 each, Carr wrote.
“The board’s failure to include their salary increase on the meeting agenda in advance of the meeting not only frustrated the purpose of the Open Meetings Act, it violated the Act’s requirement that ‘all matters expected to come before [the] agency’ should be included in the agenda,” Carr said in his letter.
DeKalb commissioners voted 6-1 to give themselves pay raises although the issue was not on the agenda for the Feb. 27 meeting. There was no discussion or explanation before the vote was taken.
Carr opened an investigation after receiving a constituent complaint.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has more here on this breaking news story.
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