The North Lafayette Redevelopment Authority board improperly appointed three new board members last week because it lacked a quorum as required by the Louisiana Open Meetings Law, a Lafayette attorney told our media partners at the Acadiana Advocate.
Two state attorney general opinions support his conclusion, the newspaper reports.
"You have to have a quorum. No exception," said Gary McGoffin, who specializes in Louisiana's Open Meetings and Public Records laws.
First and foremost, for a meeting to be convened, the public body must have a quorum, he told the Advocate.
The Authority was created by Louisiana Revised Statute 33:4720.171, which says the board "shall" consist of seven commissioners and defines a quorum as "a majority of the members of the board," the newspaper reports.
The board has become the focus of attention, since, after years of not meeting at all it was given $250,000 by Mayor President Josh Guillory to hire employees. To read our story about that, click here.
