"I think you have posed the question correctly. It really is in
two parts – 1) what does the law require/permit and 2) what does public policy
demand, but not require?
Although as I think you know I am not an NC lawyer, I am a
lawyer with a career in this world of access to what I like to call people,
places and papers.
What I would like to see in the case of the mayor meeting last
week is a full accounting of all costs. That, too, comes in two pieces – 1) the
out-of-pocket cost to the Town, and added to that something very important –
the fully allocated cost of the time devoted to this both at the meeting and in
preparation (i.e., the days/hours of their salaries), and 2) the value of any
contribution made by anyone outside the Mayor and Town Council and Town staff
by way of direct gift or reduced cost (i.e., preferential charges, lower than
normal by those catering hosting portions of the meeting). I’d like to
see a full accounting of all of the above.
As to the law, my general sense is that these closed sessions
did not violated the NC open meetings law, but it really depends on the unknown
contents of the closed meeting discussions, how many Council members were in
the room, etc. I think it would be a stretch on the law. As far as public
policy, I think Mark SCHULTZ’s Roses and Raspberries in the Chapel Hill News
made the case very well, and which is why we especially ought to receive the
accounting above and a detailed report on attendance and matters discussed."
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