BELLE — Minutes were unavailable on Tuesday morning for a Dec. 22 emergency closed session meeting posted as “personnel” by Belle city Treasurer and office manager Charro Reasor. The posting, which is supposed to specify the exact reason for closed session stated the statute as personnel, but the last two words in the notice, in the incorrect place, noted “legal advice.”

A video circulating from the Dec. 22 Belle Board of Aldermen meeting showed Alderman Barb Howarth standing in front of the Lonnie Feeler Memorial Building telling a crowd of community members the board would be meeting privately and they couldn’t go inside.

Edward Gehlert, a Belle resident and property owner, told Howarth the city was already in trouble with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office and asked them not to violate the Sunshine Law another time.

“The attorney has instructed us that is the way to do it,” Howarth said.

“But in the name of transparency here, apparently our city isn’t really good on that right now,” Gehlert said. “So here’s the deal, so P’s and Q’s, this is craziness. You guys can stop this, but you’re going to perpetuate and keep it going tonight?”

“We have to meet in closed session —,” Howarth began.

“A closed session where you might be hiring an attorney,” Gehlert countered.

Hiring an attorney is considered a service and not personnel. However, the AGO’s official opinion on the matter is tricky. One “rule of thumb” is to hire the attorney in open session and then go into closed session to discuss the issues. However, attorney/client privilege is a gray area.

Howarth tried to tell the people present that it wasn’t a closed-session meeting, but was called out for it.

“Not a closed session, a closed-door meeting — yes, I know it’s the same difference,” Howarth said in response to someone shouting there wasn’t a difference.

“Hey, business people of the town, let’s try to — where we don’t lose five or six hundred thousand dollars in fines,” Gehlert said.

Todd Smith, municipal attorney from Jefferson City with Lauber Municipal Law, arrived at the meeting soon after the video was taken and told Howarth that citizens were allowed inside.

Once inside, Smith instructed the board to begin the meeting, Reasor was recording the minutes in the absence of the city clerk, who was told that only the board would be present. Smith instructed Reasor to open the meeting via roll call. Alderman James (Pudd) Mitchell announced the only item on the agenda was a closed session. Without stating the reason for the closed session, the board closed the meeting with a roll call vote and the public was asked to leave.

The meeting was called by Mitchell who is serving as mayor pro tem. Mitchell said on Tuesday that the plan on Friday night was to make sure that everything was by the book.

“The situation that took place Friday night before the meeting was before I arrived at the meeting,” Mitchell said. “The person that was turning people away was not in charge. It was going to be done right and it was all going to be on the up and up. It should have read ‘legal advice.’ (The attorney) said under ‘personnel’ was fine too.”

Mitchell said that the only discussion in closed was to hire the attorney and discuss the city’s legal issues.

“We was going to tell everyone ‘come back in to open session’ and there was nobody there to tell,” he said, adding that the meeting was about three hours long.

He said that Mayor Daryl White, Jr., has not stepped down from the position, but has not been present since the Maries County Sheriff and Missouri State Highway Patrol served a warrant at City Hall on Dec. 20, closing the building for the remainder of the day.

“We are looking into trying to get this resolved as quickly as possible to do what is right for the city,” Mitchell said. “I don’t make decisions off of assumptions or rumors.”

Following the completion of the warrant served on Dec. 20, a post on the door at City Hall announced the office would be closed on Dec. 21 and a special meeting that included the city’s Christmas party was also canceled.

The agenda for the Dec. 21 meeting included rules for reserving the park, the number of days to correct a nuisance, MML dues, the personnel manual, and the Christmas luncheon. “Canceled” was written in large red letters over the meeting notice.

However, City Hall was open on Thursday and held its Christmas party with aldermen and most employees in attendance.