Questions Of Transparency, Open Meetings Act
Violations Hover Over Jansen Village Board

By FJN StaffAt a meeting of the Village Board of Jansen on Monday, June 6, 2022, one member of the board, Tom Gogerty, was not present in person but attended the meeting via telephone. Gogerty voted to approve the Treasurer’s report and to pay bills.The rules for teleconferencing under NRS 84-1411, do not permit voting remotely, either via telephone or video conferencing. Votes made in such a manner may not be valid.FJN reached out to the village attorney, Gregory Kratz, who responded via email, “I was not aware of that. He should not have voted. I have talked with the chairperson and the clerk and refreshed them on the current status of the everchanging Nebraska Open Meetings Act which will change again July 21.”It is unknown how many other times a member of the board has voted by telephone.Open Meetings ActThis is just one of a series of questions asked of the board. Many of those questions concern possible violations of the Open Meetings Act.The purpose of the Nebraska Open Meetings Act is to guarantee that every meeting of a public body shall be open to the public in order that citizens may exercise their democratic privilege of attending and speaking at meetings of public bodies. There are a number of rules spelled out by the act that public bodies must follow.There are times when a board may close the meeting to the public, usually referred to as a ‘closed session’ or ‘executive session,’ to allow the board to speak in private. The Open Meetings Act allows meetings to be closed only under certain circumstances, such as discussing litigation or personnel issues. The meeting must be reopened to the public when discussion of the closed session-appropriate topic is done.At the June 6 meeting, the Jansen board closed the meeting to discuss ‘customer accounts.’ The meeting ended without being reopened to the public. The date and time for the next meeting was set while still in closed session. Again, it is not known how many other times the board as done this.TransparencyAfter months of refusing to respond to questions, the board has indicated they will now only answer questions posed by FJN through the village attorney.FJN has contacted Kesha Eldridge, chairperson of the village board, with questions via email on numerous occasions. Some of those questions have been asked multiple times and Eldridge did not respond. Therefore, FJN requested to be placed on the agenda of the village board meeting on Tuesday, July 6, 2022.The attorney for the village board, Kratz, was present. At that meeting, FJN News Editor Gordon Hopkins asked nine questions. To all but two, Eldridge responded, “We’ll take note of your question and we’ll prepare a response to you in 15 business days.”AuditA letter from the Nebraska Auditor of Public Accounts, written by Assistant Deputy Auditor Mark Avery, CPA, and dated March 22, 2022, was sent to Eldridge. That letter read, in part, “For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2021, actual expenditures exceeded the adopted budget by $125,082.”FJN asked Eldridge about this and she responded that the Village of Jansen did not spend over $125,000 more than anticipated. Instead, these funds were carried over from prior budgets for projects delayed by the pandemic.She did not, however, explain why an amended budget was not filed as required by the state, despite being asked multiple times.Wind Farm CampaignTransparency concerns have been raised regarding some of Eldridge’s activities as board chairperson.Eldridge, along with a Facebook group calling itself Jefferson County Wind Watchers, has been involved in a campaign against further wind farm development in the county. The Wind Watchers had a booth at the recent Fairbury Flea Market, manned by Eldridge, who spoke to people about wind turbines all three days.Eldridge has also spoken at other village boards, including Steele City and Harbine.FJN asked Eldridge multiple times what other meetings she has attended and discussed wind farms. She has not responded.On April 14 of this year, Eldridge met with FJN publisher Timothy Linscott to discuss the newspaper’s coverage of a village board meeting. It was during that meeting that FJN learned of a special meeting of the Jansen Village Board that was held to discuss potential changes to wind farm regulations on March 18, 2022. Jefferson County Commissioner Gale Pohlmann and Jefferson and Saline County Emergency Manager John McKee were present at that meeting. However, FJN was not informed of the meeting at the time, nor was anyone from NextEra Energy Resources, a company looking to build wind turbines in Jefferson County. Matthew Jones, project developer for NextEra, later told FJN, “We were not invited to that meeting or made aware.”Notice of the meeting was not published, either in print or online. Eldridge told FJN that notice of the meeting was posted at the town hall, the post office, and the bank. The Open Meetings Act does not require publication in print or online but only that it be posted in tree public places 24 hours prior to the meeting.Unlike some public bodies, the Jansen Village Board does not hold meetings on the same day every month. FJN asked Eldridge to send FJN the agendas before the meetings. She told FJN, “We do not publicize our agendas.”The QuestionsThe questions that FJN has asked the board at the July 6 meeting, but have not yet received an answer to, are:How many times has someone voted remotely? (Previously asked via email on June 10, 2022.)How many times has the board set the date and time for the next meeting and closed the meeting while still in closed session? (Previously asked on June 10, 2022.)Why has Kesha Eldridge abstained from voting to approve the Treasurer’s report and to pay bills? (Previously asked on June 28, 2022.)When Kesha Eldrige is campaigning against wind farms, is she acting on behalf of the village board or as a private citizen? (Previously asked on May 3, May 4 and May 5, 2022.)If she is not acting on behalf of the board, is she making that clear to the people she talks to?Does the Village Board of Jansen have an official position on wind farm development?Why was an amended budget not filed? (Previously asked on April 25, May 17 and May 19, 2022.)Gregory Kratz did answer two questions directly. LB (Legislative Bill) 83 goes into effect July 31 and requires some public entities to post agendas and minutes online. When asked if this rule applies to Jansen, he said it does not.When asked what was meant by “customer accounts” as a reason for closing the meeting to the public, Kratz said those discussions involved overdue water and power bills.FJN will publish the answers to the remainder of the questions posed when they are received.

Loretta Jean Meyer (Babcock)

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