Petition 13 - Executive Session Recording and Preservation.pdf

CITIZEN
PETITION
pursuant to Phoenix City Charter, Chapter IV, Sec. 22, requests the City Council to:
PROVIDE ANSWERS
REGARDING EXECUTIVE
SESSION RECORDING AND
PRESERVATION
Sulemitted by:
Jerry Van Gasse
4610 E Via Estrella
Phoenix, AZ 85028
ese
: .
(602) 622-3515
board@goodgoat.net

CONTENTS
suratiary
v
tne problem, what th
1é supporting facts.
Request for Council Action
rhe | egal r est: a rec vote of the City Cot or
equ cone approving
Proposed Measure
The exact measure the Council is asked to vote on. written in the City’s own form
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SUMMARY
The Problem
Arizona law requires every public body to keep “written minutes or a recording’ of its
meetings, including executive sessions. For an executive session, that record is the
only record. It is confidential, and executive-session minutes need contain only a
general description of the matters considered and a few other items. When a
session is challenged, a court may review that record privately.
No published City of Phoenix rule was located that says:
* whether City Council executive sessions are recorded;
* who keeps the record:
* how it is protected and retained:
* how a Councilmember who attended can check it.
The Council's rules of proceedings, City Code § 2-60, contain no rule addressed to
executive sessions. The City’s Executive Session Agendas webpage says the
minutes are confidential and nothing about how they are made or kept.
Neither residents nor Councilmembers can tell from any public source how the
official record of these sessions is created, preserved and reviewed, or what a
member can do if the member believes that record is wrong.
What the Proposed Measure Does
Directs the City Manager to provide attributable written answers, within thirty days or
before the Council votes to approve executive-session dates for 2027, whichever comes
first, to five questions and to place the complete response in this petition’s public
legislative file. The questions ask:
* whether Phoenix officially records City Council executive sessions verbatim;
* how the official session record is kept, protected and preserved;
* how a member who attended can review it;
* Phoenix's position on personal recordings and on preserving evidence when a
member disputes the record.
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SUMMARY
Why the Council Should Adopt It
State law leaves the choice to the City, so the City’s choice should be known.
Section 38-431.01(C) allows minutes or a recording (Fact 1). The Attorney General's Open
Meeting Law handbook calls recording or transcribing executive sessions “the best
practice” (Fact 6). The public cannot learn from any published source which option Phoenix
uses, why, or under what rules (Facts 7-8). Question 1 asks the City to say.
The record matters most when it is disputed.
Executive-session minutes are confidential, but the law provides routes by which they
reach an investigator or a court (Facts 3-5). How that record is made, kept and protected
from alteration determines what any later reviewer can see. Questions 2 and 5 ask for
those rules.
Members need to know how they can check the record.
State law does not keep executive-session minutes confidential from the members of the
body that met (Fact 3). Question 3 asks how and when that review actually happens.
Question 4(a) asks what a member can do, through lawful channels, if the member
believes the minutes are inaccurate or incomplete. These are process questions that can
be answered without disclosing any confidential discussion.
Answers come before any rule change.
The Council should know the City’s current rules and practices before deciding whether to
change them. The questions allow the answers that no documented decision exists, that no
recording is made, that no mechanism is available or that the City cannot determine. Each
of those answers tells the Council something it needs to know.
The Facts
1. Arizona law provides: “All public bodies shall provide for the taking of written minutes or a
recording of all their meetings, including executive sessions.”
2. Executive-session minutes must include:
* the date, time and place of the meeting;
* the members recorded as present or absent:
* ageneral description of the matters considered;
* an accurate description of instructions given under § 38-431.03(A)(4), (5) and (7):
* “other matters as may be deemed appropriate by the public body.”
3. Minutes of and discussions made at executive sessions must be kept confidential except
from:
* the members of the public body that met:
officers or employees who were the subject of a personnel discussion:
* the Auditor General for an authorized audit.
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SUMMARY
* a county attorney or the Attorney General investigating alleged Open Meeting Law
violations.
4. Aperson who receives executive-session information under § 38-431.03 or § 38-431.06 may
disclose it only:
* to the Attorney General or county attorney:
* by agreement with the public body:
* to a court in camera for purposes of enforcing the Open Meeting Law.
Such disclosure does not waive any privilege.
Source ARS. § 38-431.03(F).
5. in an action challenging the validity of an executive session, the court may review the minutes
camera and, in its discretion, disclose or admit part or all of them.
0
OHrCe ARS. § 38-431.07(C)
6. The Attorney General’s handbook states: “The best practice is for public bodies to keep an
audio or video recording of the executive session or to transcribe the executive session to
ensure that they are prepared to meet their burden of proof in the Sapien is filed.”
ci a
Source © ona Attorney Gener . ¥ Handbook ci h 7 3 Ss a sal ?- fey. 2018},
7. Phoenix City Code § 2-60, the Rules of Council Proceedings, contains no rule that refers to
executive sessions. Two of its rules bear on how meetings are conducted:
* Rule 11 provides that citizen comments “will be televised as part of the formal meeting.”
* Rule 12 requires the Council to hold all meetings in accordance with the Arizona Open
ene Law
8. The City’s Executive Session Agendas webpage states that “Materials, minutes, and
discussions utilized during E-session are confidential and cannot be disclosed unless
otherwise provided by law.” It does not address whether executive sessions are recorded. No
published City rule, policy or procedure on recording executive sessions was located in City
Code 82 2- an oron Vinal webpage.
9. The Phoenix City Charter provides: “Except for the purpose of inquiry, the Council and its
Members shall deal with the administrative service solely through the City Manager and
neither the Council nor any Member thereof shall give orders to any subordinates of the City
Managef, either publicly or privately.”
Source: Phoenix City Char 1 §4
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eRe
Petitioner Jerry Van Gasse
Address 4610 E Via Estrella
Phoenix, AZ 85028
Phone (602) 622-3515
Email board@goodgoat.net
Date presented October 21, 2026
Requested Legal Action
For the City of Phoenix Council to vote on the Proposed Measure exactly as
written.
Summary of Proposed Measure
Directs the City Manager to provide attributable written answers, within thirty days or before the
Council votes to approve executive-session dates for 2027, whichever comes first, to five
questions and to place the complete response in this petition’s public legislative file. The
questions ask:
* whether Phoenix officially records City Council executive sessions verbatim;
* how the official session record is kept, protected and preserved:
* how a member who attended can review it:
* Phoenix's position on personal recordings and on preserving evidence when a member
disputes the record.
Council Action Required
Phoenix City Charter, Chapter IV, Section 22 provides that a written petition presented to the
Council at a regular meeting shall be acted upon by the Council in the regular course of
business, within fifteen (15) days. Section 8 provides that the Council shall act only by
resolution, ordinance, franchise, or formal recorded action. The Proposed Measure is a
formal recorded action.
Acting upon this petition requires that vote, as its own Formal Agenda item, with this Request
and the Proposed Measure attached. Any change in the substance of the Proposed Measure, in
whole or in part, makes it a different measure from the one proposed by the petitioner, and a
vote on it is not action on this petition. Referral, a staff report, a General Information Packet
entry, continuation, answers to some or all questions, or a consolidated vote also does not act
upon this petition.
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ee eee
Executive-Session Official Recording and Preservation (Formal Action)
SECTION 1. Council Direction and Deadline
The City Council directs the City Manager to provide the attributable written answers specified below.
The complete response shall be placed in the public legislative file for Citizen Petition JV-20261021-05
no later than the earlier of (a) thirty (30) days after the Council adopts this Proposed Measure, or (b) the
time the Council votes on any item approving, calling, or scheduling executive sessions for calendar year
2027.
SECTION 2. Required Written Answers
The City Manager shall assign each question to the official or employee with direct knowledge,
responsibility, or subject-matter competence. The assigned person shall answer each numbered question
and each labeled subpart separately and completely.
1. Does Phoenix make any official verbatim recording of City Council executive sessions in addition
to written minutes?
1(a). If so, describe each form of recording, including audio, video, stenographic, or any other
form; what each form records; and the authority under which it is made.
1(b). If not, identify any documented decision establishing the non-recording practice and its stated
reasons and authority. If no documented decision has been identified, state that expressly.
2. Describe how Phoenix governs every official verbatim recording of a City Council executive
session. Identify the custodian and the applicable custody, access-logging, security, alteration-
control, retention, preservation, litigation-hold, and destruction rules. Describe any material
difference among recording forms. If Phoenix makes no such recording, state that expressly.
3. Describe the right or process that permits a Councilmember who attended an executive session to
review the official minutes, including when and where review may occur, the applicable security
conditions, and whether review may occur before approval.
3(a). Describe the right or process for reviewing any official recording, including when and where
review may occur, the applicable security conditions, and whether review may occur before
alteration or destruction.
3(b). Describe the right or process for reviewing the member’s preserved objections, including
when and where review may occur, the applicable security conditions, and whether review may
occur before finalization.
4. Describe Phoenix’s current general legal position on whether a participating Councilmember may
make a personal verbatim recording of an executive session. Address audio, video, stenographic,
and any other form of recording, and identify the authority and conditions supporting Phoenix’s
position.
4(a). When a member disputes the accuracy or completeness of the minutes, describe every existing
evidence-preservation mechanism, if any, available to that member. For each mechanism, address
separately how it may be used through an authorized enforcement process and how it may be used
through an authorized in-camera-review process. State expressly if either route is unavailable.
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PROPOSED MEASURE
The requested response to Question 4 and its subparts is a statement of the City’s general legal position,
not personal legal advice or an adjudication of individual liability.
5. Describe the current rule or practice governing preservation of potentially relevant records when a
Councilmember raises a good-faith concern that an executive-session discussion exceeded the
noticed subject. Include who initiates a preservation hold, what triggers it, what records are
included, who receives notice, when it may be released, and the authority governing release.
5(a). Describe the current rule or practice governing preservation of potentially relevant records
when a Councilmember raises a good-faith concern that an executive-session discussion exceeded
the invoked statutory exemption. Include who initiates a preservation hold, what triggers it, what
records are included, who receives notice, when it may be released, and the authority governing
release.
SECTION 3. Written-Answer Standards
1. Reproduce each numbered question and labeled subpart unchanged immediately before its separate
answer.
2. Identify the person answering, that person’s title and department, and whether the answer is based
on direct knowledge, identified records, identified legal authority, or another stated source.
3. When a question asks for a yes-or-no answer, begin with “yes,” “no,” or “the City cannot
determine,” before providing any explanation.
4. When a question asks for the City’s position, interpretation, policy, or practice, state it expressly
and identify the supporting authority, records, written policies, and materially contrary authority
considered. State expressly if no City position, written policy, or uniform practice exists.
9. Distinguish an existing fact, current practice, written policy, legal position, and proposed future
action. Do not present one as another.
6. If the City cannot answer a question, state that expressly, identify the information needed to answer
it, identify the person or entity believed to possess that information, and describe the steps taken to
obtain it.
7. If the City contends that any part of an answer cannot lawfully be disclosed, answer every
reasonably separable part and identify the specific legal authority asserted for not answering the
remainder without disclosing protected information.
8. A response to a rephrased or different question does not answer the submitted question.
SECTION 4. Public Response Package
The City Manager shall place the following in the public legislative file for Citizen Petition
JV-20261021-05:
1. The complete written answers;
2. A response index matching every numbered question and every labeled subpart to its separate
answer or expressly stated inability to answer; and
3. A specific citation to each record, legal authority, or written policy relied upon, including a direct,
stable public link when one is available.
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PROPOSED MEASURE
SECTION 5. Scope
This Proposed Measure directs written answers. It does not submit or incorporate a public-records request
and does not require production of cited records. Any public-records request concerning the subject
remains a separate request with an independent receipt date, scope, process, and legal effect.
SECTION 6. Continuing Responsibility
The City Manager remains responsible for the completeness and timely placement of the response
package notwithstanding assignment of individual questions to another official, employee, department, or
contractor.
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