News-Record.com

We've been watching the big screw that is Guilford County gub'ment turn.

So new chairman Melvin "Skip" Alston is telling us that he and Steve Arnold are meeting with county employees and with department heads and with other folks in the county about all kinds of issues.

Why aren't we hearing much about it?

"It’s not required to happen in public," Alston said. "I don't think that it needs to be aired in public, and these are individuals that have lives after Guilford County, and their situations and the private thoughts should be discussed in private."

Personnel matters are private business. But what about the reconfiguring of government, which included cutting Ben Brown's position of deputy county manager? That doesn't appear to be personnel - such as an individual's review - it's a change in the structure of government itself.

"First of all, I have to talk to the individual who is in the position," Alston said. "And I have to respect the person who is in that positon first and let them know that the position is going to be removed, and then discuss it out in public."

Some discussions he has planned must be done in public - such as those committees that will look at the budget, efficiency and other issues. But there's always the chance that one public official will meet with another public official.

"If I’m going to meet with another commissioner, that’s not a part of the open meetings law ... and I can meet with any commissioner," Alston said.

Sure. But not with the intent of avoiding the open meetings law. Let's see what the statute says, and where the grey area may be.

This is a public body, according to N.C. G.S. 143‑318.10. (b):

"public body" means any elected or appointed authority, board, commission, committee, council, or other body of the State, or of one or more counties, cities, school administrative units, constituent institutions of The University of North Carolina, or other political subdivisions or public corporations in the State that (i) is composed of two or more members and (ii) exercises or is authorized to exercise a legislative, policy‑making, quasi‑judicial, administrative, or advisory function.

So that appears to clear up the question of those committees. Let's see what's considered an actual official meeting.

"Official meeting" means a meeting, assembly, or gathering together at any time or place or the simultaneous communication by conference telephone or other electronic means of a majority of the members of a public body for the purpose of conducting hearings, participating in deliberations, or voting upon or otherwise transacting the public business within the jurisdiction, real or apparent, of the public body.

What can the public rightfully see about those committee actions?

Every public body shall keep full and accurate minutes of all official meetings, including any closed sessions held pursuant to G.S. 143‑318.11. Such minutes may be in written form or, at the option of the public body, may be in the form of sound or video and sound recordings. When a public body meets in closed session, it shall keep a general account of the closed session so that a person not in attendance would have a reasonable understanding of what transpired. Such accounts may be a written narrative, or video or audio recordings. Such minutes and accounts shall be public records within the meaning of the Public Records Law

But these folks are commissioners, and they show up at a lot of the same places at the same time, and talk about business too. But there are other meetings that happen. Remember, Alston said: "If I’m going to meet with another commissioner, that’s not a part of the open meetings law ... and I can meet with any commissioner."

Yeah, but not to avoid those laws. Let's hear the rest of N.C. G.S. 143‑318.10. (b):

However, a social meeting or other informal assembly or gathering together of the members of a public body does not constitute an official meeting unless called or held to evade the spirit and purposes of this Article.

One can read this to mean that any gathering of any number of members of that public body (Board of Commissioners, chairman's committees, etc.) is a gathering. It does not say in that sentence that it must be a quorum - a majority of members. But it does say that if that gathering is done with the intent of evading the laws governing the meetings of public bodies, then it is indeed a public meeting, subject to the full documentation of minutes and so on.

So what do you think? Are those meetings, talks and chats with Alston and other commissioners being done to "evade the spirit and purposes" of the law?

Do you want those deliberations recorded?

Do you think that the politicans that govern this county have the right to discuss county matters at their discretion? Of course, there are those incidential conversations between commissioners. How far do you think that can go? What are you OK with?