New Press Release, Council at it once again with the Closed Government policies they are so noted for using Dunn says Council acted improperly to remove discussion of Non Disclosure Agreements Item was removed by Council via email prior to work session Leesburg Town Councilmember Tom Dunn, who has proposed new guidelines reducing the number of Council Closed sessions and Non Disclosure Agreements (NDA) the Town signs, said the Council acted improperly by removing an item on NDAs from the Council work session agenda for Sept. 8 via an email discussion. Dunn, who is running for Mayor in the Nov. 4 election, said on Aug. 11, 2014 he requested the NDA item be discussed, which is within Council rules. No members of Council objected. But the Friday before the Sept. 8 work session, after the agenda was published, members of Council, emailed each other asking that the item be pulled. Dunn did not respond to these requests because he did not want the item removed from the agenda, nor did he agree with electronic vote that Council was taking on this item. Dunn said there should have been an informal vote of the Council at the public work session, not an email exchange, which he said may be a violation of the state Freedom of Information Act. Dunn said he is examining whether the Council acted in contrast to the law. Most importantly this action clearly shows a continued desire by the Council to not address the issues of closed government. While some Councilmembers claimed in their emails to be willing to discuss NDA issues, they came up with excuses not to do so. The Mayor said Dunn had valid points but took no action to restore the discussion item to the agenda. Martinez said the discussion should be in November. Dunn points out that November is to far out to address this important issue and is conspicuously after the Council elections. Wright said discussion should be after the current NDA with Oaklawn has been resolved. Hammler said this should be a memo item, yet Council has voted to discuss such things as butterfly gardens and letters written the TV show the Millers but not openly discuss closed door issues like Non Disclosure Agreements. Dunn has also asked Council to discuss the parameters to consider a NDA in the future, as a result of citizen concerns about the recent Oaklawn rezoning to bring in a high-tech manufacturing firm to Leesburg. Dunn suggested that disclosures should only be entered into on very limited basis. For instance, applicants cannot use a NDA to withhold information needed for proper town planning. Nor should the business expect automatic waiving of planning guidelines just because a NDA has been signed. And that business name disclosure must be made public within 30 days prior to application approval. And most importantly under Dunns plan the NDA, used by a business while prospecting the Community, may very likely be adjusted when the business moves to the Applicant level when the benefits and concerns of the citizens are addressed. Dunn said he does not agree with the majority of Council which feels government works for the betterment of the citizens or a higher good and should therefore be granted leeway in having closed sessions. Dunn further stated I believe government is not above the people but is servant to the people and should make every effort to operate in the open and enter closed session only on the very rarest of occasions He said the action to strike the NDA discussion off the agenda is typical of professional politicians who want to brush this under the table during an election year. He noted Councilmember Martinez, who is running for a 4th term on Council, asked that the NDA discussion be brought up in November, which is conveniently, after the election.? Dunn also has proposed reforms to the way Council handles closed sessions. The current Council has had closed sessions that have resulted in a questionable hiring process for the new town manager, setting of bad water rate policy, many law suits, weak land negotiations, and most recently, the Oaklawn controversy, he said. Dunn so much objected to a closed session the Council had for hiring of the Town manager that he refused to attend. Dunn found out afterward from a Councilmember that in the closed session an ultimatum was given which limited the scope of the hiring process. The ultimatum was that if a national search were conducted this applicant for the Town Manager position would withdraw from consideration. This resulted in an all but closed process for others to be considered. But that is a whole other story according to Dunn which deserves full review and disclosure to the public. Dunn questioned the need for an Oaklawn closed session the next day after it occurred. He also spent many hours on the days leading up to the public hearing trying to get the NDA removed. Dunn said that closed sessions make heros of some people attending, because they can act and talk bigger than they would ever dare when in public view. Under Dunns proposal, town staff would have to disclose the subject of a closed session on the Councils agenda, such as, if it was a personnel matter, legal matter or contractual issue. In addition, as with the Board of Supervisors, the Mayor or Vice Mayor would have to verbally disclose the subject of the closed session prior to closing the doors to the public. In addition, a recorded vote should be taken, said Dunn, who is serving his second term as a council member. Finally, Council members must be furnished with closed-session materials in advance, similar to what is given to the Board of Supervisors and other councils. Dunn noted that in his six years on Council, material to be discussed in closed session has been handed out at the beginning of the sessions, thus giving little time for Council members to prepare questions or even decide if the closed session is needed at all. Many times staff requests the closed sessions or just informs the mayor that a closed session is needed. Council as a whole should be deciding the need and value of a closed session, Dunn said. Only in an emergency should staff have to ask Councils permission to go into closed session the day of a work session or business meeting, he added. Dunn said he will discuss with the towns legal staff, and attorneys for the County and other towns and cities to determine if they have other safeguards on when Councils can go into closed session and how much information can be given to the public.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 21:37:02 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015