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Judge: Kristi Fulnecky did not violate local or state laws by recording a meeting about her in November.
Judge: Kristi Fulnecky did not violate local or state laws by recording a meeting about her in November.

Examiner clears Fulnecky of wrongdoing

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In his role as hearing examiner for the city of Springfield, retired Judge John Holstein yesterday issued a ruling that cleared Councilwoman Kristi Fulnecky of wrongdoing related to a closed meeting last year.

In November, Fulnecky entered a meeting of council members related to her eligibility to serve on the governing body and made a recording she later released to the media, according to Holstein’s findings.

Holstein’s examination focused on whether she broke city or state laws in doing so. He was not tasked with examining Fulnecky’s eligibility, which stemmed from allegations of unpaid business license fees when she assumed office in April 2015, according to information provided by the city.

Fulnecky attended a portion of the closed meeting, which was called by five other council members to speak with their lawyer, Kevin O’Keefe, on Fulnecky’s eligibility. The councilwoman was not invited to the meeting, but attended anyway. After stating her objections, she left under protest.

Holstein found Fulnecky did not violate any laws because the council members did not discuss legal matters while she was in attendance; therefore the meeting was concluded as open during the time she was there. Fulnecky contends she held up her phone to indicate she was recording, but Holstein said to conclude that this was a formal authorization would be “sophistry.”

“To be sure, her unannounced recording of conversations with fellow council members without asking or receiving permission to do so, and disclosing the recording to a news reporter, was disrespectful to her colleagues on City Council. But it did not amount to a violation of the code,” Holstein said in the ruling.

As to her business license fees, the councilwoman has since paid three years of fees owed by her construction-management firm, the most allowable under city charter.

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