ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 3, 1996 TAG: 9607030062
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE
SOURCE: Associated Press
MEMO: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.
City Council broke the law by discussing behind closed doors how it will spend tax money and then refusing to release a report about it, a judge ruled in a lawsuit filed by a newspaper.
Circuit Judge David Williams ordered the council to release its ``Martinsville 2000'' report, which lists capital projects and ways to fund them, in his ruling Monday in favor of the Martinsville Bulletin.
The Bulletin claimed the council broke the Freedom of Information act after it closed its May 1 meeting to the public and refused to turn over the report.
Williams' ruling said council could not claim an exemption to the FOI law that lets it meet in closed session to discuss investments that could put the city at a competitive disadvantage.
He also ruled that the report was not a ``working paper'' exempt from disclosure because it had been distributed to the council's five members during the closed meeting.
``Unless council very carefully states the purpose of the closed session, the public has no way of knowing (absent a suit such as this), what was actually discussed,'' he wrote.
Williams ordered the city to release the report and instructed City Attorney David B. Worthy to give each council member and the city manager a copy of the FOI act and review it with them as soon as possible. However, Williams will keep the report under seal for 10 days in case the city decides to appeal.
LENGTH: Short : 39 linesby CNB