On many Tuesdays or Wednesdays, Bend City Manager Eric King sits down with some Bend city councilors to set the agenda for upcoming Council meetings.

They don’t do it in a fancy restaurant or have the meetings catered. They usually sit in a conference room in city hall. There might be some water and coffee. They talk about what should be on the agenda, the background of the issues, and of course, some policy. The councilor who is mayor is usually there along with a couple others who rotate through the seven-member Council.

There would have to be four councilors present to make any formal decision for the city. And we are told that no formal decisions are made at the meetings — other than setting the agenda.

So what’s the harm in those meetings?

The meetings don’t seem to violate the state’s public meetings laws. But think about the intent of those laws. They exist so that the public’s business is done in an open setting.

When councilors set the agenda, they are setting policy. When they have these discussions, they are building toward setting policies. These meetings enable them to do it without any public scrutiny.

Why can’t councilors set the agenda for their next meeting at their regular Council meetings? Why can’t they talk about the background of issues at regular Council meetings and work sessions? Why don’t they make the effort to ensure all policy discussions are held in public?

They could. It might make Council meetings and work sessions longer. It might mean more meetings. It can already be difficult to cram in everything councilors and city staff want to get done into a meeting that starts at 4 p.m. and goes on for hours and hours. There would also have to be allowances for changing or updating the agenda as things come up between meetings.

Oregon’s open meetings laws don’t exist to make it easier for the Bend City Council to get things done. They exist so the public can see what the Bend City Council does. And these agenda-setting meetings are a way it is hidden.