Court Ruling on Cedar Rapids City Council Meeting May Impact Iowa Governance

Cedar Rapids: The Iowa Court of Appeals has ordered the city council to release a recording from a closed meeting held four years ago. This ruling could change how many public bodies in Iowa handle closed sessions, especially when it comes to job evaluations.

Back in 2021, former federal prosecutor Robert Teig took the city to court after they refused to share job applications for city clerk and attorney positions. The Iowa Supreme Court decided that only applications from outsiders could be kept secret, while those from current employees had to be made public.

Teig argued that the council broke Iowa’s Open Meetings Law when they interviewed Alissa Van Sloten for the city clerk position behind closed doors. Van Sloten, who was already a city employee, requested the closed meeting to protect her reputation. However, a district court judge found no harm to her reputation and dismissed the case.

Recently, the Iowa Court of Appeals reversed that decision, stating the council did violate the law. They sent the case back to the district court to determine if the city should pay damages and insisted that the recording of the closed session be made public.

The court noted that it was concerning how the council simply accepted the request for a closed meeting without questioning its necessity. This could lead to more public bodies closing meetings than allowed by law, as anyone could just claim reputational harm to keep things private.

In this case, the court pointed out that the council didn’t even ask why Van Sloten needed a closed session. They should have reopened the meeting once it was clear there was no risk to her reputation.

Teig expressed worry that the city might use taxpayer money to appeal this ruling, which he believes is unfair. He feels that city leaders should acknowledge their mistakes and move forward instead of dragging this out with public funds.