An issue was raised by a speaker last night about a meeting of six members of the Human Relations Commission. Mayor Knight and Councilman Matheny met with these members at their request. It is my understanding that members of the city staff were not present at this meeting. The Human Relations Commission has 15 members. Under the Open Meetings Law, an official meeting of a public body is defined as a meeting of a majority of the members of such body. A meeting of six members of the Human Relations Commission is not an official meeting of the Human Relations Commission. There was no violation of the Open Meetings Law or the Commission’s Rules of Procedure. If questions, please let me know.
ORIGINAL POST: At last night's Greensboro City Council meeting, Human Relations Commissioner Michael Roberto alleged that a May 16 meeting between Mayor Bill Knight, Councilman Zack Matheny and select members of the commission was illegal, indicating that he was not notified of the meeting. Another commissioner, Marikay Abuzuaiter, also indicated that she was excluded.
Matheny has inquired with City Manager Rashad Young about whether there was any problem with the gathering.
Assistant City Manager Denise Turner Roth responded in an e-mail this morning:
A quorum [spelling corrected] of the Commission is eight members so it did not constitute an official meeting of the Commission. There is nothing preventing you from having met with them. Anthony Wade confirmed this with legal this morning.
Matheny tells me: "There was no quorum and none needed."
I'll be digging deeper into this.
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