The Office of the Attorney General notified the Charter Rules Committee April 2 that it found violations of the Massachusetts Open Meeting Law related to a June 11 executive session and ordered the City Council to comply with disclosure requirements.

Councilor Linda Bacon (who filed one of the complaints) read the AG’s conclusion into the record: "We find that the council violated the Open Meeting Law by failing to identify the litigation matters to be discussed in executive session on June 11," she said, summarizing the AG’s letter. The AG further found the council failed to state, before convening in executive session, that keeping the discussion closed might have a detrimental effect on the city’s litigating position; the AG also determined the council discussed topics in executive session that were not appropriate for executive session and were not included on the meeting notice.

The AG ordered the council to announce at its next open meeting the specific litigation matters or types of matters discussed in executive session on June 11 and to release the portions of the executive‑session minutes that report discussions of topics not appropriate for executive session or not listed on the notice. The AG’s letter cautioned that repeated similar violations could be treated as evidence of intentional noncompliance.

Committee members reviewed the opinion. Assistant City Solicitor Bissonnette said the solicitor’s office would coordinate needed steps; the committee acknowledged an upcoming executive session where pending executive‑session minutes will be reviewed and made available as appropriate under the AG order.

The committee received and then marked item 11 (the petitioner’s complaint) and item 12 (the solicitor’s response) as complied with in committee business. Committee members discussed whether to pursue additional action; the city solicitor advised the committee that the law department had filed a response with the AG’s office and that the committee should wait for the AG’s final determination in related matters. The committee voted to record the material as "complied with."

The AG’s finding requires the council to review and release non‑privileged sections of the executive session minutes and to publicly announce the litigation matters discussed; the committee directed the solicitor’s office to follow the AG’s order as required.