Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 5, 1990 TAG: 9004041360
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARGARET CAMLIN NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Other than the board clerk, no members of the public witnessed the vote taken by board members in a back room after a nearly two-hour executive, or closed, session.
Several teachers and the news media waited along with the school's personnel director, his lawyer, family and others until about 1:15 a.m. Wednesday in the board meeting room. No one there was aware that the officials had reconvened into open session down the hallway.
After seeing two board members leave, the waiting group went toward the back room, only to find that the meeting had ended.
This led to a tense confrontation between David Williamson, a lawyer for T.O. Williams, and board Chairwoman Virginia Kennedy.
"Was there any attempt to tell the public that you returned to open session?" Williamson asked Kennedy. "All these people were sitting out there waiting."
A visibly shaken Kennedy responded that the board always held meetings in the back room, and that their vote was "so quick, so easy."
"We're not trying to pull any wool over anybody's eyes," she said.
Asked Williamson: "Are you suggesting that you did not know there were people waiting for you to return to open session?"
Kennedy then said she did not know anyone would want to watch. "I did not personally have a plan to notify people of returning to open session," she said.
The board's failure to notify the people who were waiting that it was reconvening in open session violates the Freedom of Information Act, said David Kohler, a Richmond lawyer who acts as legal counsel for the Virginia Press Association.
"A lot of things happen through inadvertence," Kohler said. When public meetings last into the wee hours of the morning, some officials are inclined to "think nobody in their right mind is around," he said. It is not necessary to search every nook and cranny of the building for citizens, "but there's an obligation to make a reasonable check," Kohler said.
When telephoned by a reporter Wednesday afternoon, Kennedy said she had apologized last night to the group and added, "I meant it."
"This was a bad slip-up; it was not intentional at all," she said. "I made a wrong assumption, and other people did. I personally thought they'd been notified."
Board member Donald Lacy said normally no member of the public waits until the late-night executive sessions are over.
"I didn't think anybody else would be around," Lacy said.
Also after the meeting, when a reporter asked board member Kimberly Helms her reason for voting against the personnel changes, Helms first asked Kennedy if it was legal for her to respond. Helms is serving in her first year on the board.
Kennedy told her she should not answer the question.
Later Wednesday, Kennedy told a reporter it would have been improper for Helms to reveal anything discussed about personnel during the executive session.
"What is done in executive session is privileged; it's not for public announcement," Kennedy said.
Kohler said nothing in the law prohibits board members from telling the public what was discussed in executive session.
He said the Privacy Act would limit the disclosure of certain records, such as a job evaluation. But the law does not prohibit officials from telling someone about it, he said.
Nor does the law require governing bodies to hold closed meetings to discuss personnel or legal matters, he said. They can keep their doors open if they choose, he said.
by CNB