Bourbon County Commissioner Samuel Tran ended the Oct. 19 commission meeting by accusing three fellow commissioners of making up their minds together before they ever sat down.
“Clearly the decision was already made by the three of you before you came to the table,” Tran told Gregg Motley, Joe Allen and David Beerbower. “Can I prove it? No. But your action speaks louder than words.”
What set it off
Earlier that night, the commission voted 3-2 to hire a local human resources provider. Allen made the motion and Motley seconded. Motley, Allen and Beerbower voted yes. Tran and Commissioner Mika Milburn-Kee voted no.
In his closing comments, Tran said the three vote together on “every one of these votes” and that people had been calling him about it. “You three voted together offline,” he said. “You did it before, you did it again tonight. … One day you’re going to get caught.”
Motley, who chairs the commission, answered: “Everything Commissioner Tran just said is wrong.” He then adjourned the meeting.
As the meeting ended, Tran told Motley, “Grow a backbone, Gregg.” Beerbower, echoing Tran’s words, said, “The only thing I can say, Sam, is we didn’t get caught.” Tran answered, “I’m right here, David. I’ll be out in the parking lot.” Some people in the room told FortScott.biz they understood that Tran was issuing a challenge to fight Beerbower outside. As far as is known, it didn’t come to fisticuffs in the parking lot.
What the law says
Kansas has an open meetings law so that public business happens where the public can see it.
Bourbon County has five commissioners. Three is a majority. Under the law, when a majority of the commission discusses county business, that is a meeting, and it has to be open to the public (K.S.A. 75-4317a). That applies in person, by phone or through other back-and-forth messages.
The law also covers a chain of private conversations. If one commissioner talks to a second, and the second talks to a third, and any of them is trying to reach agreement on a vote, that chain has reached a majority and must be open too (K.S.A. 75-4318(f)).
Two commissioners talking privately is allowed, because two of five isn’t a majority, as long as it doesn’t become part of a chain that reaches a third.
What the commissioners say
Asked about Tran’s accusation that the three had worked out their votes outside the meeting, commissioners told FortScott.biz they never discussed their HR votes with one another.
“I would never talk to more than 1 other commissioner about a topic outside of a meeting,” Commissioner Joe Allen said. “On the topic of HR, I never spoke to another commissioner about their stance on HR submissions outside of a meeting. I wasn’t for sure I would even get a second last night or have the majority. It’s just what I thought was best for county.”
Tran said himself that he could not prove his accusation. His view seemed to be based on the assumption three commissioners wouldn’t independently decide to support the same motion without coordination. However, the commissioners say they reached their decisions on their own and had no idea how anyone else would vote until the actual vote.