===================================== Mr Fitts’ letter follows
Mr. Munden,

I just read your commentary regarding my letter to the editor that appeared in Marshall News Messenger this past Sunday. I would like to respond to your question directed at me and also clarify the point of my letter.

First, the Chairman was not selected during the "pre-commission work session" as someone has suggested. The work sessions are posted along with the commission's regular meetings in accordance with state law. The pre-meetings are held in the upstairs conference room thirty minutes prior to the regular meeting. The meetings are open to the public and normally several citizens are present along with a reporter from the newspaper. During the pre-session the City Manager usually presents a broad overview of the agenda for that night's meeting. The commission does not conduct any votes during the pre-session. In fact I do not even recall the selection of the chairman be discussed during the pre-session that night.