Amanda Martin Quoted on Closed Meetings in Salisbury

Recently, the Salisbury Post reported on the Rowan-Salisbury School System’s acquisition of property for a new central office on main street in Salisbury. The paper reports that prior to the announcement of the transaction, the school board members met in closed session, then made a brief vote in open session.

The article quoted SMVT partner and attorney for the North Carolina Press Association Amanda Martin on the open meetings law:

“All the basics of a land deal that are not going to be negotiated must be publicly disclosed,” she said.

Although the district isn’t “paying dollars” for the property, the land swap is a form of payment, she said.

“We just signed the contract yesterday,” Mona Lisa Wallace said Thursday evening, adding that it would have been inappropriate to make information about the swap public before she and her husband were able to purchase the property.

“They couldn’t give it to us until they owned it,” Moody said.

Martin, however, said private parties dealing with public agencies can’t pick whether or not they want to be subject to the public records law or open meetings law.

The entire article can be found here.