Report: Monticello’s ex-mayor, councilman evaded open meetings

Former Monticello Mayor Don Miyagawa and some city council members evaded the state's open meeting law, but didn't break it, in an attempt to fire the city administrator in 2010, the state ombudsman's office found after a yearlong investigation.

Miyagawa and City Councilmember Gregg Merfeld “violated the spirit of Iowa's open meetings law when they privately discussed plans to oust their city administrator” in a series of meetings at council members' homes, according to a statement from the office of Ruth Cooperrider, the state's citizen's aide and ombudsman.

The subject of Miyagawa and Merfeld's effort, City Administrator Doug Herman, remains on the job. He said Miyagawa and Merfeld “realized very early on in the investigation that a better process could have been followed.”

“The events that brought about this report have been put behind us many, many months ago,” Herman said this afternoon.

Cooperrider's 27-page report issued Tuesday includes a recommendation that the General Assembly move to clarify the open meeting law's definition of “meeting” to outlaw such “walking quorums” or “serial meetings.”

“We need to fine-tune the law,” said Cooperrider. “Our hope is that the law will be maybe crafted in such a way to address those particular situations.”

“I definitely think there could be some cleaner language in the code,  some clarifications,” said Herman. “(But) there is value for council members with less than a quorum to meet outside the public eye to bounce ideas off each other.”

The report details the effort by Miyagawa and Merfeld to fire Herman. On Feb. 6, 2010, the pair visited other council members in their homes without prior notice. They brought a letter composed by Miyagawa's campaign manager Cory Roberts, also an officer on the city's police force, calling for Herman to resign or be fired.

Miyagawa asked the council members to sign the letter. The letter stated a council member's signature “indicate an agreement with me and clearly state that they intend to vote with the will of the people and with myself in the removal of Doug Herman.”

In addition to Miyagawa and Merfeld, council members Russell Hodge and  John Sauser signed the letter.  Dave Goedken and Gerald Muller declined, and Councilmember Tom Yeoman wasn't home when Merfeld, Miyagawa, and Hodge called.

“They more or less knew what they were doing,” Cooperrider said of Miyagawa and Merfeld. Evading the open-meeting law “was probably something they were trying to do. I couldn't say that for all the councilmembers who were visited (because) these were unannounced drop-ins.”

Citing medical reasons, Miyagawa resigned in April. His phone number is unlisted, and the listed number for Merfeld is disconnected.

Several Herman supporters spoke at a special council meeting three days after the meetings, and Hodge apologized for signing the letter. Hodge has since left the council after moving from his district.

“There was an understanding anyway that this never should have happened the way it did, and very quickly this situation passed,” said Herman. “I'm still friends with (Hodge) and I have a great working relationship, I believe, with the current mayor and council.”

Monticello Ombud Report