News

Google holds closed-door reception for public officials

This week, Google held a press conference to announce that Charlotte had been selected to receive the company’s new fiber internet service.

Following the announcement, the Charlotte Observer reports that the company held a private celebration that included a majority of the Charlotte City Council, raising questions about compliance with North Carolina’s open meetings law. The Observer quotes SMVT partner Amanda Martin:

Amanda Martin, an attorney with the N.C. Press Association, acknowledged that a majority of an elected body can attend a social meeting, but she said “they cannot discuss or even receive information about public business.”

She said it was “almost impossible to believe” the open meetings law wasn’t broken.

To add some context, the law requires that most meetings of public bodies be open to the public. Specifically, any gathering of a majority of members of a public body participate, for the purpose of “conducting hearings, participating in deliberations, or voting upon or otherwise transacting the public business within the jurisdiction, real or apparent, of the public body” must be open, unless some exemption applies. N.C.G.S. s. 143-318.10(d).

The law does not require any official votes be taken to violate the law. In fact, the use of the word “deliberations” suggest that any discussion of any matter that action might foreseeably be taken on (such as decisions about fiber, easements, etc.) must be public unless a specific exemption applies. Even where an exemption applies, the meeting must be noticed, and must commence in a public session, neither of which were done in this case.

The article also discusses the possible state and local ethics implications of the gathering. Read the entire article here.