We received several comments like this one:
Meeting summaries, agendas, and minutes could be more detailed and informative.
Unfortunately, there is no “one size fits all” answer to this issue. To comply with the state’s open records laws, Board meeting agendas include enough detail so that the membership, interested parties, and the general public can understand the nature of each item. As is customary for many organizations, MPERS’ Board meetings operate under Robert’s Rules of Order. These rules provide that minutes should contain a record of what was done at the meeting, not what was said by the members. In fact, Robert’s Rules only require a discussion of the motions made or rescinded and not every detail of the meeting. A detailed or verbatim transcript is generally not useful or practical. Except for limited circumstances, these meetings are open to the public and our members are encouraged to attend. In the event a closed meeting is held, that meeting notice is also posted for the public.
Meeting summaries were developed to provide a complete but very basic description of the decisions made at each meeting. The brevity of these summaries was intentional. Research typically shows greater interest from members by offering complete yet concise information. Where that falls short of individual member needs, questions or comments should be submitted to MPERS and we will fill in the gaps accordingly.