The Leelanau County Board of Commissioners last week released minutes of a closed session it held on Aug. 21 that the board last month admitted was held in violation of the state Open Meetings Act.

Release of the minutes was precipitated by a subpoena issued in October by Northport attorney Thomas Oehmke, who represented the plaintiff in a lawsuit against two Leelanau County mechanical inspectors. Discussion of that lawsuit as well as three other cases of “pending litigation” had been cited by the board as its rationale for going into closed session.

Although the Open Meetings Act allows public bodies such as the county board to hold closed sessions to discuss “pending litigation” with an attorney, no attorney was present at the meeting. In addition, no lawsuits had actually been filed in three of the four cases of “pending litigation” cited by the board.

On the advice of its “corporate counsel,” attorney Peter Cohl of Lansing, the board on Oct. 12 publicly acknowledged that it violated the Open Meetings Act (OMA) on Aug. 21. That action came in response to an Aug. 30 letter from Leelanau Enterprise publisher Alan Campbell expressing concern about a series of apparent OMA violations by the board, and requesting that minutes of several improperly closed meetings be released.

Although Cohl advised the board to admit that it made a mistake in holding a closed session on Aug. 21, he also told them that anyone seeking minutes of a closed meeting would need to file a lawsuit to obtain a court order for the release of minutes.

The Enterprise on Nov. 6 filed a lawsuit against the county board for the release of Aug. 21 minutes as well as three other meetings the newspaper alleges were improperly closed this year, on Feb. 14, May 11, and March 13.

An attorney in Cohl’s own law firm, Tim Perrone, last month advised the county board to release minutes of the Aug. 21 closed session in response to Oehmke’s subpoena. The lawsuit that precipitated Oehmke’s subpoena was settled earlier this month.

Newly released minutes of the county board’s improperly closed session on Aug. 21 indicate that commissioners felt a $75,000 settlement in the case would be appropriate, while county administrator David Gill thought “anything over $50,000 is too much.”

Ultimately, the case was settled for $132,500, with $75,000 coming from county coffers.

Shortly after minutes of the Aug. 21 closed session were released, Oehmke commented: “Until now, the board has publicly stated that this (lawsuit against the county’s mechanical inspectors) ‘is a matter for the insurance company.’ It was not,” Oehmke said. “The county paid $75,000 of taxpayer money for their reckless errors. …

“These secret meetings tend to mask government carelessness, incompetence and breach of its fiduciary duty to the taxpayers,” Oehmke continued. “That’s why state law mandates sunshine, not the dark of night.”

During the Aug. 21 closed session, according to minutes, Gill also told commissioners that he was responding to a request for information from the state Bureau of Construction Codes regarding allegations made by former county Building Official Robert VanDyke.

VanDyke had alleged that he was “not properly allowed to enforce the building codes in the county” and “that he was not allowed to fire people,” according to minutes.

Gill fired VanDyke in June.

VanDyke has since filed a state Whistleblower Protection Act suit against Gill and the county.

Also discussed during the Aug. 21 closed session was the status of the Maple Valley Nursing Home. Although no lawsuits regarding the county-owned property have been filed, the newly released minutes of the Aug. 21 meeting indicated Gill was concerned that the nursing home operator, John Kasben, had not signed a lease for the property.

According to minutes, District No. 3 commissioner Will Bunek and District No. 5 commissioner David “Chauncey” Shiflett indicated they were willing to talk to Kasben.

However, “some commissioners felt that the delay by Mr. Kasben is nothing more than a ploy to shake down the county,” according to minutes.

The board also discussed an issue involving a contractor who provided telecommunications service and hardware to the county but failed to win a contract to provide service and equipment for the new Government Center in Suttons Bay Township. According to minutes of the Aug. 21 closed session, Gill’s executive assistant, Georgia Robertson, reported that she had received a “very threatening e-mail” from the owner of the company, Ted Apostoleris of Great Lakes Telecom.

Minutes stated: “Discussion regarding the warranty on the 9-1-1 system and when that was purchased so was the extended warrant (sic). Apostoleris purchased the extended warranty in the name of Great Lakes Telecom, which is embezzlement,” the minutes stated.

“Whoever made this statement (in the closed session) seemingly defamed Mr. Apostoleris,” said Oehmke, after reviewing the minutes. Oehmke noted that he does not nor has he ever represented Great Lakes Telecom or Apostoleris.

“I imagine that such character assassination would only occur behind closed doors and without the advice of counsel,” Oehmke said.

Great Lakes Telecom earlier this month filed suit against the county, claiming that county officials improperly reneged on a maintenance agreement with the company, among other allegations.

“The allegations the county board made against me in their illegal secret meeting are just preposterous,” Aposteleris said. “Believe me, all of the truth about this situation is going to come out in court.”

“It appears that since Mr. Gill has become county administrator,” Oehmke said, “the flurry of lawsuits has never been greater. The county board and Mr. Gill are in need of adult supervision. At least an open meeting promotes taxpayer supervision.”