- First, the mayor and most of the members of council campaigned on promises of open government. More than one of them told me that he or she would not agree to executive sessions unless it were absolutely necessary. "Absolutely necessary" seems to coincide with "at the first opportunity."
- Second, the move was taken -- I think with some forethought -- when there was almost nobody in the room. There were two "outsiders" there when Mayor Dan Corbin declared an executive session: me and one other civilian.
- Third, and I think this is most important, the mayor and members of council have had exactly one week to take official note of the city manager's performance. And they are going to evaluate him? In secret? The word for this is 'hubris'.
I have no doubt that the mayor and council members will say that if I knew the circumstances I would understand that there is no problem. But that's rather the point, isn't it? When you have secret meetings, almost no one will know the circumstances.
The council has a legal obligation to protect private information about a staff person. The law is quite firm on this.
ReplyDeleteAre there any written transcripts of the "secret meeting" that can be broadcasted to the public with personal data edited out?
ReplyDeleteWe have setup: www.KilleenTexasMayor.com for just such an occasion
Obligation to protect private information? He is the interim city manager. Are they wanting to hire him as the new city manager after $25K, time and effort has been spent looking for a city manager that brings fresh perspective from outside of Killeen? Why would be neccessary to retreat into an executive session when council has only been in office about a week?
ReplyDelete