Closed door sessions hide the truth

And when we get behind closed doors…
Oh no one knows what goes on behind closed doors.

                        Thanks to Charlie Rich

 

So, now remind me again, why is City Council is allowed to have closed door sessions?

Oh let me see, personnel actions, land acquisition, hide stuff from the public that they would rather the public not see or know. And of course act like blithering idiots and let their true nature out where the voters can’t really see them. Make decisions, and then come out of a closed door session and announce their results as if by decree.

And while I am certain there are some good reasons to have closed door sessions, I am quickly becoming convinced that how they are being used is not exactly how they were meant to be used. For instance, personnel actions likely should not be addressed in a public forum in order to preserve the sanctity of the person or people being discussed.

Who wants their dirty, or clean for that matter, laundry addressed in public? Not I, for one. While in a way it makes sense, the intent, in my belief is not to protect council but to protect the individual or group being discussed. And yet it is hard for me to believe that council isn’t somehow protecting themselves.

Land acquisition or sale is another one that might have some legitimacy for closed door sessions. If people know you are discussing taking their property they may actually get a lawyer to try to protect themselves. Although, in these days of invoking “eminent domain” for the “greater good of the community” maybe has outlived its usefulness. Eminent domain is its own hobgoblin, it gives the city or other legal body the right to snatch someone’s property with them having no recourse.  In Colonial Heights, you people who live on the Dupuy Road corridor had best beware of eminent domain.

Why on earth do we have Sunshine laws and the Freedom of Information Act anyway? We have them because government entities tend to do things behind everyone’s back. They cobble decisions together via phone or text and then meet and take action. Those meetings via phone and text to discuss city or county business probably are not legal. And yet, we know they happen. We know they happen as surely as we know that teens, and others, have resorted to sexting. We don’t have to see it in person to know that it happens. It’s a human trait or tendency, just as it is a human trait or tendency to work out deals behind closed doors.

And that ladies and gentlemen is essentially what happened when Hopewell City Council held a closed door session to discuss and vote on who would be serving as Mayor and Vice Mayor last year. Really, why would the process to elect or appoint the mayor and vice mayor need to be done behind closed doors? Are we trying to hide something from the public? Is it even remotely possible that the public can’t figure out where the power in council resides?

Power in council resides in the swing vote. If you have seven council folk, often that results in a 4-3 split. The swing vote, the deciding vote, will tell you how council will act even before they act. It’s not rocket science or new math we’re talking about here. It’s all about power; it’s all about who has the votes.  And it’s not going to change anytime soon. If council or any other political body continues to do things that you don’t care for, vote those people out.

Meanwhile, Judge W. Allen Sharrett’s ruling that the city had not met their burden in proving there was a reason to hold the discussion on the appointment in closed session seems legit. And allowing the results of that discussion to stand are also legit. No way is it possible to go back and “fix” what happened. The only thing we can hope for is that council doesn’t take it upon themselves to do the same thing again this year.

On the other hand, why not just conduct city business, other than personnel actions, in the open? How novel that would be; how above board; how honest.