Despite Hanover County supervisors facing acold reception to their proposal to loosen regulations for open meetings, they now want a state agency to study the matter.
The Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution in July asking the Virginia General Assembly to change open government regulations to allow larger groups of locally elected officials to meet behind closed doors without notifying the public.
“While there was some initial adverse reaction to this, it might be better if there was a calm, deliberate study of this over the course of the next year by the (Freedom of Information Act) Advisory Council, at which point they’ll make a recommendation to members of the General Assembly,” said Hanover County Attorney Sterling E. Rives III.
Currently, no more than two local elected officials can meet behind closed doors to discuss government affairs, with some exceptions, such as personnel and legal matters. The proposed change would eliminate that rule, defining a meeting as occurring only when a quorum exists. In the case of the seven-member Hanover board, three supervisors would be able to meet out of public view.
“The intention here is that we have fewer closed-door meetings, not more,” said Supervisor Angela Kelly-Wiecek, who represents the Chickahominy District. “I think our chairman stated it best: Efficiency and transparency are two goals that we are fully committed to here in Hanover. We believe that we can have both.”
Board of Supervisors Chairman W. Canova Peterson IV has touted the proposal to loosen regulations for open government meetings as a way to improve government efficiency and save taxpayers money.
Peterson said local governments could potentially scale back the number of closed meetings with only two elected officials — if as many as three could meet in localities such as Hanover, and four in localities with nine-member boards.
State groups that promote government transparency have adamantly opposed the proposal, including the Virginia Press Association and the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, arguing that such a change would reduce government oversight.
Rives noted Wednesday that the change proposed by Hanover supervisors would align Virginia’s regulations with those of the five adjoining states, which, in general, only require local government meetings to be open to the public when there is a quorum.
Del. Christopher K. Peace, R-Hanover, wrote in an email last month that he would recommend that supervisors and Rives request a study by the FOIA Advisory Council.
Also at Wednesday’s meeting, Kelly-Wiecek, who chairs the county’s legislative committee, said the county would back efforts by the General Assembly to give localities more say in major state-funded road projects. And the county would back legislation, if proposed by the assembly, limiting nonprofessionals from owning dangerous animals, Kelly-Wiecek said.
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