Two complaints against the Neola City Council were dismissed Thursday by the Iowa Public Information Board. The Daily NonPareil says members of the board accepted a recommendation finding no legal meeting was held when some members of the council met with city staff to discuss absentee ballots and political strategy in advance of the recent municipal elections.

The board went against a staff recommendation to accept a second complaint alleging the City Council should have involved its city attorney in a closed session following an audit finding by the state. The council instead had a special attorney for that issue involved in the closed portion of the meeting, during which the council discussed legal strategy.

Margaret Johnson, deputy director of the Iowa Public Information Board, said the state agency advanced a proposed administrative rule at Thursday’s meeting to clarify that when a governmental body cites a provision of Iowa Code to allow closed meetings “to discuss strategy with counsel,” the body’s legal council must attend either in person or electronically.

Johnson said the IPIB staff had asked the board to accept the complaint to further examine the definition of “counsel” for the purpose of a closed session. She said the board instead dismissed the complaint but asked for that background work to be done for an advisory opinion.

In a letter to the IPIB, the city had called the complaint “frivolous.” The complaint was filed by Teresa Ring, who said an audit finding alleging fraud by former City Clerk Deb Schierbrock was a “smear campaign,” and the audit prompted the closed session in question. Schierbrock, Ring’s sister-in-law, made an unsuccessful bid to become mayor of Neola. The audit was conducted by the state as part of an independent process from the city.