MARTA Board Accused of Violating State Law During Search for New Leader
A high-ranking lawmaker is accusing MARTA of violating the state’s open meetings law by holding a secret vote for the transit agency’s next leader.
In a complaint filed with the state attorney general, Republican State Representative Mike Jacobs of Atlanta is alleging MARTA’s search chair requested final decisions from each board member via emails dating back to September 13th.
State law requires search committees to hold all votes in public.
Attorney General Sam Olens is investigating the complaint, but would not comment on an active case.
Hollie Manheimer of the Georgia First Amendment Foundation says the email correspondence appears to meet the definition of a vote.
“When you go from one person to the next looking for some kind of consensus, that gets awfully close to the definition of a vote,” said Manheimer.
“Historically the AG [attorney general] has always said things like a rolling or walking quorum are violations of the law and I would very much expect Mr. Olens to keep on with that interpretation.”
But Holland & Knight attorney Robert Highsmith, who is representing the MARTA board, says the emails don’t break state law.
“If members want to inquire with each other how they intend to vote in a future meeting, that’s perfectly permissible and if the public wants to review those emails they are permitted to do so under the Open Records Act.”
Highsmith argues email exchanges between board members don’t constitute a meeting and are therefore not subject to the Open Meetings Act.
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