The Loft Board's October 15, 2009 Meeting

At the October 15, 2009 meeting, Executive Director Lanny Alexander said that Chuck Delaney was correct: the Open Meetings Law requires that the Loft Board's minutes must be published within two weeks of the meeting. At the present time, the minutes generally contain a detailed recitation of what the various members say at each meeting. Ms. Alexander suggested that in order to meet the two-week deadline, staff should omit these details. She reminded everyone that the meetings are tape-recorded and members of the public could always ask to hear the tape recording. The Board voted to adopt Ms. Alexander's suggesting of streamlining the minutes.

Stay tuned to this blog: it may include "details" which will be omitted from the Loft Board's minutes.

Prior to the Board's October 15, 2009, Martha Cruz, Director of Hearings, prepared a proposed order concerning the Fogel case, regarding 93-99 Commercial Street. The proposed order was mailed to the parties.

Generally speaking, it has been the Loft Board's practice over the years to "close the record" after the proposed order is issued. In other words, if a party is offended by the Board's proposed order, and the party or his/her attorney writes a last-minute letter of protest, perhaps raising new issues, the Loft Board's staff ignores it, and refuses to distribute the late submission to the members of the Loft Board.

In the late afternoon or early evening of Friday October 9, 2009, the Loft Board received a submission from an attorney for one of the parties to the Fogel case. Martha Cruz and Lanny Alexander read the submission, decided that it raised significant legal issues, and, on the day before the Board's meeting, withdrew the case from the Board's calendar of cases for consideration on October 15, 2009. Delaney correctly noted the Loft Board's past practice of closing the record, and asked staff to report to the Loft Board, at the next meeting, on "the process that currently exists."

Practice pointer to all litigants before the Loft Board and their attorneys:
You will receive the Loft Board's proposed order days before the Board's scheduled meeting - sometimes even one day before! Your attorney should be ready to jump into action, write a letter of protest, raise new issues and hand-deliver the submission to the Loft Board. The worst that could happen is that the Loft Board could say no, we won't accept your last-minute submission. You'll never know unless you try.