Livingston's minutes never state a vote count, and closed-session votes are recorded without names

What happened

Every roll call in the district's approved minutes for the year is written as ayes by name with none against - Chirls, Cohen, Gong, Khemka, Yelisevich, the five voting members - and no numeric tally appears anywhere. That is enough to identify how each member voted on the main business, which many districts fail to do. The gaps are elsewhere: motions to enter closed session and to adjourn are recorded as 'vote all in favor' with no names, even where the agenda called for a roll call, which happened at both closed-session-only meetings and again in May; and the substance of most business reaches the minutes only as attachment references, so bill lists, stipend rosters, transfers and most personnel tables are named but not reproduced. Anti-bullying reports are accepted at nearly every meeting with no incident counts stated.

Why it matters to families

Knowing that a motion passed unanimously is useful; knowing what was in it is what lets a resident check the decision. In Livingston the vote is visible and the content often is not.

The evidence

The closed-session motions at the October 24 and December 1 meetings are recorded only as 'Vote all in favor' although both agendas specify 'ROLL CALL VOTE', and business items throughout are approved by reference to 'Attachment A' through 'Attachment Q'.

The source