The Winchester-Clark County Parks and Recreation Board said it received several specific legal threats about allowing alcohol sales in Lykins Park, which justified a closed discussion of the matter during a meeting, according to a letter sent to the Kentucky Attorney General’s office.
The letter was the board’s response to The Winchester Sun’s question of the closed meeting’s legality.
The board now says there were several specific threats of a lawsuit if a waiver for alcohol sales in Lykins Park were granted.
After discussing the matter in closed session Sept. 12, the board voted 4-2 in open session to allow the Winchester Fraternal Order of Police to sell beer during the John Michael Montgomery Country-Fest, despite an existing policy that prohibits alcohol in public parks in Clark County.
To justify the closed session, the board cited an exception in the state’s Open Meetings Act that permits closed meetings to discuss proposed or pending litigation against or on behalf of the public agency.
Clark County Attorney Brian Thomas was one of the main organizers of the festival where the FOP sold beer to raise money for itself and STRIDE. He advised the board that a discussion of any potential liability in granting the waiver could take place behind closed doors.
In the days following the meeting, Thomas told The Sun there had been “discussions” that if a waiver were granted it would be in violation of the policy and the board could be sued.
In its Sept. 21 appeal to the attorney general, The Sun, citing case law provided by its attorney, argued that the possibility of litigation was “remote” and therefore the exemption did not apply.
In his response dated Sept. 30, Thomas said several people had threatened to sue the parks board if the waiver was granted.
“Before the meeting of the board, several individuals in the community had stated to others and public officials in other community forums that if a waiver was granted to the FOP, then the individuals would file a lawsuit or seek an injunction,” Thomas wrote. “ ... In the present case litigation had been expressly threatened by members of the community before the meeting and the possibility of litigation was not ‘remote.’”
He did not name those who made the threats, those to whom they were made or identify the nature of the community forums.
Thomas, who did not join the board members during the closed session, said in the letter that the board adjourned to the closed session “only for a discussion of necessary preparations, strategies and/or tactics to address potential litigation and reduce potential liability for Winchester/Clark County Parks and Recreation should a waiver be granted.”
In The Sun’s letter to the parks board notifying Chairman Charlie Eury of its belief that the Open Meetings Act had been violated, and to its appeal to the Attorney General’s Office, it requested copies of any minutes, notes and/or documents created as a result of the closed session. Eury replied that there were no minutes, notes or documents created during the session, and he disputed the newspaper’s contention that the meeting was illegal.
Both Thomas and Eury maintained that the board has never held improper closed sessions under the litigation exemption, and that the board “has and will fully comply with the open meetings requirements.”
The Attorney General’s Office has not yet issued a decision or opinion on whether the parks board violated the law.
Contact Katie Perkowski at kperkowski@winchestersun.com or follow her on Twitter, @TheSunKatie.
