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Joint Meeting cancelled : Possible Open Meetings Violation

Currituck County officials have rescheduled a joint meeting between the Currituck County Board of Commissioners and the Currituck County Economic Development Advisory Board, after John H Snowden, III - publisher and editor of The Independent, called into question whether appropriate public notice had been posted for the meeting scheduled for Thursday, July 23.

An email and attached announcement sent on Monday, July 20 at 4:14 pm, from Gwen Keene, clerk to the board of commissioners announced the special meeting:

Special Meeting Announcement

The Currituck County Board of Commissioners and Economic Development Advisory Board will be holding a special meeting on Thursday, July 23, at 7:00 pm in the Currituck County Cooperative Extension Center board room, 107 Community Way, Barco, NC.

Visit www.currituckgovernment.com or call 232-2075 for a meeting agenda.

The email and attachment was a forwarded version of one originally sent on Monday, July 20 at 4:12pm from County Economic Development Director, Peter Bishop to Keene and Public Information Officer, Randal Edwards. In his email, Bishop stated that he was “posting this in the glass” - presumably referring to the glass case holding public notices in the upstairs hallway at the Historic Courthouse.

In an email sent [Wednesday] morning to county staff, Snowden stated:

I’m going to take issue with this notice, notice is supposed to be posted where their (in this case the ED Board) regular meeting takes place.

Lately they have been meeting at the Bank of Currituck in Grandy, I’m not sure when the last time they met at the Courthouse and [with this special meeting] they are meeting at the Extension Center.

This shifting meeting schedule and now a whole new meeting place frustrates the publics ability to a) know where they are meeting and b) attend said meeting.

I know the notice likely meets the letter of the law, but it most definitely does not satisfy the intent of the law.

In the interest of the public’s right to know when these meetings are held, it should have been advertised and disseminated in a broader fashion.

Shortly after Snowden’s email, an email was sent from County Staff to Snowden, The Daily Advance, The Virginian-Pilot, County Commissioners and manager Dan Scanlon stating:

It has been brought to the County’s attention by John Snowden, III, that the Economic Development Board would be in violation of the open meetings law if they met at the Extension Building tomorrow night since a notice had not been posted at the Grandy Bank of Currituck (their regular meeting place) 48 hours prior to the meeting. Therefore, the joint meeting of the Economic Development Board and the Board of Commissioners scheduled for July 23 has been cancelled, and the meeting has been rescheduled to Thursday, July 30, at 7:00 pm, at the Cooperative Extension Center, 107 Community Way, Barco, NC.

Under North Carolina Open Meetings law, public bodies may call special meetings on 48 hours notice; however, notice of those meetings must be placed prominently at the place where the body holds their regular meeting.

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