## Facts

- Rochester City Council consisted of nine members; eight were Democrats and one was Republican (Anthony J. Sciolino).
- The Council held regular public meetings twice a month.
- Separately, the eight Democratic members met twice a month in closed Thursday sessions with the City Manager, City Clerk, and other administrative officials to discuss matters likely to come before the Council.
- The closed sessions excluded the public, reporters, and Sciolino.
- Sciolino and newspaper reporters sought access to one Thursday session and were denied entry.
- Petitioners challenged the closed sessions under New York’s Open Meetings Law (Public Officers Law §§ 100–111), asserting that a quorum discussing public business must meet openly.

## Issues

1. Whether closed gatherings of a quorum of same-party city council members, convened with administrative officials to discuss matters likely to come before the council, are “meetings” subject to New York’s Open Meetings Law.
2. Whether such gatherings fall within the Open Meetings Law’s statutory exemption for a “political caucus or conference” of members of the same political party.

## Decision

- The Appellate Division reversed the lower court’s determination that the Thursday sessions were subject to the Open Meetings Law.
- The court held the Thursday gatherings were exempt political caucuses of members of the same political party.
- Because of the caucus exemption, the majority was not required to admit the public, the press, or the minority council member.

## Legal Principles

- The Open Meetings Law applies to an “official convening of a public body for the purpose of conducting public business,” but it does not apply to a political caucus or conference of members of the same political party.
- A gathering may qualify as an exempt political caucus even if a quorum is present and matters of public concern or prospective legislative action are discussed.
- Courts must give effect to a specific statutory exemption even when the statute also contains broad policy language favoring openness.

## Conclusion

The court held that the city council majority’s closed, same-party strategy sessions—though attended by a quorum and involving discussion of likely council business with administrative officials—were exempt political caucuses and therefore not subject to New York’s Open Meetings Law.


Sciolino v. Ryan, 440 N.Y.S.2d 795 (App. Div. 4th Dep’t 1981)