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Officials' Jan. 12 closed session may have violated Open Meetings Law, attorney says
By Lynn Hotaling
By failing to discuss publicly the reasoning leading up to their Jan. 12 decisions that included removing Tom McClure from appointed county posts and suspending participation in the Economic Development Commission of Jackson County, local officials may have violated North Carolina's Open Meetings Law.
Minutes of the Jan. 12 open session, which was a continuation of Jackson County Commissioners' Jan. 11 regular meeting, do not include any discussion of Chairman Stacy Buchanan's multi-part motion that received unanimous approval.
The motion followed a two-hour closed session that commissioners said was for personnel matters.
Because McClure is an appointed official and not a county employee, the personnel exception to the Open Meetings Law does not apply to any discussion of him, said Amanda Martin, legal counsel for the N.C. Press Association.
In Martin's opinion, any debate concerning whether to audit the EDC, remove McClure, suspend the county's participation in the EDC, dissolve the county's revolving loan committee, and/or foreclose on delinquent loans should have occurred in open session.
The fact that commissioners were able to act on such a complicated motion without discussing it first seems to indicate that they must have somehow known the contents of the motion ahead of time, Martin said.
While the Open Meetings Law does allow for closed session discussion of alleged criminal activity, Martin said she doesn't think that exception is applicable since that was not the stated purpose of the closed session.
Commissioners' Chairman Buchanan said Tuesday that discussion of the various components of his motion were tied up with personnel matters.
Veteran economic development employee Tamera Crisp was placed on paid administrative leave during the Jan. 12 closed session but has since been reinstated, Buchanan said.
The Sylva Herald has requested the minutes of the Jan. 12 closed session, and Martin said she believes county officials should release them.
Commissioners' attorney Paul Holt of Sylva said Tuesday that he doesn't think the minutes should be released because they include personnel matters.
State law requires that "full and accurate" minutes be kept of all closed sessions, Martin said, and stipulates that such minutes not only reflect action taken but also include a "general accounting" such that someone who was not there would have a reasonable understanding of what transpired.
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