Is There a Guinness World Records Category for This?

Maintaining the spirit

of the proverbial smoke-filled room.

Link to December 17 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article, "Town of Cedarburg violated open meetings law, complaint says".

Excerpt: Town of Cedarburg officials knowingly violated the state open meetings law by attending 27 secret sessions this year (RG's emphasis), City of Cedarburg Attorney Kaye Vance says in a complaint filed Thursday with Ozaukee County District Attorney Adam Gerol.

The complaint follows on the heels of a town decision in October to end more than a decade of sharing costs of library, recreation and senior services with the city.

The increasingly bitter rift between the neighboring communities appears to threaten progress on the town's long-sought goal of a cooperative boundary plan with the city, since there have been no further talks.

The closed-door meetings were held to discuss possible lawsuits or negotiations on specific issues - shared services and future use of the former Prochnow landfill - involving the city, according to Vance.

A public relations consultant sat in on at least four of the closed-door meetings, raising the question of why town board members needed to meet privately with legal counsel if someone else was allowed to sit in on the discussion, Vance said.