The case of the "emergency meeting"

The Open Meeting Law has an interesting description of what constitutes an "emergency." If you click on the post and proceed to page 13, you can review.

Just calling something a "special" or an "emergency" meeting does not make it so. As in the example cited on page 14 "a board of selectmen acting as the local licensing board convenes an emergency meeting because it has just been informed by the potential purchaser of a restaurant that unless the purchaser receives approval of the transfer of a liquor license that day, he will lose his option to purchase. This is not the type of emergency that justifies an emergency meeting because the circumstances calling for immediate action is the private financial interest of the purchaser, not an event or act relating to the licensing board's responsibilities. "

So--private financial interest is not an acceptable reason for calling for an emergency meeting.

It is good to know that a strict interpretation of the word "emergency" will eliminate 95% of the emergency meetings we have been holding in our fair city. What a cost saving that will be.