From the Burlington Times-News (12/2/09): On Nov. 19, the Green-Level Town Council met for 20 minutes behind closed doors after conducting a regular monthly meeting.
The meeting violated the state open meetings law, a reader told the Times-News. Others agreed. The topics discussed behind closed doors should have been talked about in public, says Town Attorney Nick Herman and Town Manager Haywood Cloud Jr.
Council members are divided about whether the meeting followed state law.
Mayor Pro-Tem Richard Woods and Councilman Larry McCollum agree with Herman and Cloud.
Councilwoman Remonia Enoch says a portion of the meeting adhered to state law.
The entire closed session followed state law, Councilman Willie Burton says. He declined to say anything further.
But Woods, McCollum, Enoch and Cloud say the council’s overall lack of experience led to an inadvertent skirting of state law. There was no intent to deceive, withhold information from the public or break the law, they say.
Mayor Billy Tarpley could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.
Here is how the issue came about:
At the end of the public portion of the Nov. 19 meeting, Tarpley cited a portion of North Carolina law that states public bodies can hold closed sessions “to prevent the disclosure of information that is privileged or confidential … or not considered a public record” according to other state laws.
Enoch kicked off the closed-session, asking who on the body has authorization to call special meetings.
According to a tape recording, more than 8 minutes into the meeting, Woods, an 8-year-veteran of the board and its current longest-serving member, cautioned about going into closed sessions to discuss “personnel policies,” something that state law doesn’t list as a reason public bodies can meet in private.
“We are personnel … this is personnel,” Enoch said.
The councilwoman then expressed frustration regarding the canceling of a Nov. 18 special meeting she and Burton called to discuss the possibility of changing the town’s form of government from mayor-council to manager-council. The latter designation, among other things, would allow Cloud to hire and fire employees without seeking the council’s approval.
The meeting was cancelled after Tarpley and Woods initially said they were unable to attend.
Enoch took both to task. “We’re supposed to be working as a team. In the past, whenever a meeting was called, I changed my schedule and worked it into my schedule,” she said.
Enoch later asked Tarpley why he met privately with councils-elect Carissa Graves and Michael Trollinger, the two write-in candidates who defeated Woods and Burton in the Nov. 3 municipal elections. The two will be sworn in Thursday.
“It bothers me that you would meet with them and not include all of the council,” she said.
“… That’s not the first time that things like that have happened,” Enoch continued. “I don’t know if being a female, I’m left out of the good old boys club, or what.”
The mayor said he met with the Graves and Trollinger and took them on a tour of Green Level “to let them know what’s going in the town.”
The meeting was proper because the two weren’t council members yet; a tour involving the whole council would have been illegal, he said.
“When I came on (the council) nobody took me and showed me anything,” Tarpley said.
“Nobody’s to this day has taken me and shown me anything,” Enoch said.
“Well, that’s your fault. You should have asked,” Tarpley said.
“No. It ain’t my fault,” Enoch said.
Enoch later agreed with Tarpley that he had the right to give such tours to any Green Level residents, but asked: “Does it not occur to you that that might look the wrong way to somebody else?”
Tarpley asked Enoch why she brought up the point. “No reason in the world, except for the fact that it was just dirty politics, and everything else that was going on.”
“Who done the dirty politics, me?” Tarpley responded.
“I’m going to leave that one alone,” Enoch said.
Around the 16-minute mark, Woods and Herman objected as the council took up the issue of electing a new finance officer to take over for Burton when he leaves office.
Herman said he didn’t know what the board wanted to discuss, but added “it has nothing to with what ought to be in closed session.”
The board adjourned a few minutes later after agreeing to take nominations and vote on a new finance officer in a a future open session.
by Robert Boyer, Times-News