No, it’s not a trick question.
But it is one that Caddo Judge Brady O'Callaghan will consider in the Settle vs. City of Shreveport lawsuit.
The definition that most people give for the word "adjourn" is to end a meeting.
The definition that most people give for the word "recess" is to temporarily suspend.
The definition that most people give the word "reconvene" is to meet again after a recess.
James Green has served as city council chair since Jan. of 2022.
He has ALWAYS ended the council meetings with a pronouncement that the meeting is "adjourned."
And that ended the meeting and the council members all left.
On Dec. 31 at the called meeting to elect council chair Green rapped his knuckles on the council dais and pronounced the meeting "adjourned."
Thereafter the group reassembled.
The minutes of the Dec. 31 meeting(s) prepared by the council clerk office that were published in the Shreveport Times on Jan. 6 state in part that" the council reconvened to reconsider the election of the chairman of the council."
Hmmm...no mention of the initial "adjourned comment by Green".
And then the council had a special meeting on Jan. 6 to elect a chairman.
This series of actions leads to obvious questions:
1. What are the meaning of the words "adjourn", "recess", and "reconvene"?
2. If "adjourned" always meant the end of all council meetings chaired by Green in 2022 except for the Dec. 31 meeting, why or how did the word meaning change at that meeting?
3. If Green was correctly elected chairman at the Dec. 31 meeting, why did the council have a special meeting on Jan. 6 to elect Green the chair?
Geez--is this a legal conundrum?
Does it take rocket science to determine the impact of Green's first adjournment on Dec. 31?
Stay tuned.