Lawyer: Fayetteville City Council virtual meetings policy is against the law - The Fayetteville Observer
A Fayetteville lawyer is fighting to get the City Council to open its meetings for in-person public attendance after months of virtual-only sessions.
Access to government meetings has become a point of concern for political observers as elected officials started holding public meetings online during the pandemic.
Lawyer Neil Yarborough on Wednesday sent a letter on behalf of Longleaf Pine Realtors and the Homebuilders Association of Fayetteville that asked the City Council to stop barring the public from attending its regular meetings and work sessions in person.
“As servants of the people, the City Council should utilize every available means to provide direct, in-person access to anyone desiring to attend the City Council meeting,” he wrote. “Not doing so deprives our citizens of the opportunity to fully observe everything that occurs at a meeting and to feel that the citizens are a part of the process.”
Due to renovations at City Hall that started in July, the City Council has been meeting at the FAST Transit Center with around 11 staff members, nine council members and the mayor. The City Council has streamed the meetings online in an effort to adhere to COVID-19 safety guidelines.
In a statement, City Manager Doug Hewett disagreed with Yarborough's allegations. "The city's position is that we have and will continue to comply with the requirements of the law," he said.
Hewett added that the city has set up a viewing station outside of the Transit Center meeting room that provides seats for the public and media as available and requested. "The room in the Transit Center remains a temporary solution until Council returns to City Hall, and there will be adequate space for media and the public to attend in person should they choose to do so," he said.
However, Yarborough contended that this “excuse” did not follow state law, which requires political bodies to conduct business openly.
“It is incomprehensible with all the large open meeting spaces in public buildings in the city of Fayetteville that a large room can’t be found which will reasonably accommodate the public,” Yarborough wrote.
Virtual meeting technicalities
Yarborough acknowledged that, despite his argument that the City Council was not adhering to state statute, there could be an argument that the city was “technically” compliant with open meetings law.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, state law has allowed governing bodies to host their meetings online, if there was an option for the public to watch or listen virtually.
However, if the public cannot attend in person, at least one board member must attend virtually, according to Beth Soja, a Charlotte attorney that specializes in First Amendment law, in an article for Border Belt Independent. If the entire board meets in person, then the public must be able to attend in person as well.
However, it is unclear if at least one City Council member attended virtually every meeting since the meetings moved to the FAST Transit Center. In addition, since some meetings are available only by audio and not with accompanying video, the public cannot determine which council members voted for certain proposals.
Meeting minutes, which show who voted for specific proposals and who was virtual, are not available on the city’s website after October 2021.
“For virtual meetings, public bodies should make every effort to create full transcripts of meetings and make the transcripts and complete meeting minutes available to the public as soon as practicable,” according to the website of the North Carolina Open Government Coalition, a nonprofit that helps the public navigate government transparency issues.
In his letter to the City Council, Yarborough added that not everyone has internet to be able to attend virtually and that some could experience technical glitches while watching.
Around 14% of households in Cumberland County don’t have broadband, and almost 9% don’t have a computer, according to U.S. Census estimates.
“A public body should not assume that all citizens have reliable broadband internet access,” according to the NC Open Government Coalition website. “A public body should implement solutions for conference call access in addition to whatever teleconference or livestream service it provides to make sure all citizens can attend and participate.”
On the Fayetteville website, the city does include a number to teleconference into the Zoom meeting. However, this information is only available under the “news and press releases” tab on the website. It is not easily accessible under other tabs associated with City Council, including “City Council members,” “council meeting information,” “meeting agendas,” and “view City Council meetings online.”
In addition, the city lists another phone number under the “City Council” tab, but that phone number is connected to a meeting that no longer exists.
At the end of his letter, Yarborough asked that the City Council find a larger location to hold in-person regular meetings and work sessions “to comply not only with the letter of the law, but also with its spirit.”
The City Council will return to City Hall on March 28, according to Hewett. He did not specify if the meeting will also be available virtually.
source: https://www.fayobserver.com/story/news/2022/03/18/fayetteville-city-council-virtual-meetings-policy-against-law/7075843001/
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