Improper: City Council shows troubling disregard for how public office works

The Goldsboro City Council met in private session last week to discuss a shooting near the home of one of its members.

It was a reasonable response, given the violence the city is experiencing.

But the council met outside the rules set by the state for open meetings, and for that its members deserve a slap on the collective wrist.

Despite campaign promises for open government, we have noticed that there is a feeling among almost all elected officials that their work at times can be best accomplished outside the earshot of the people who put them in office.

They are wrong.

Elected officials need to understand that it is OUR work they are taking up, not their own personal business, and that the public has a right to know what they are talking about.

There are certain situations in which boards and councils can meet behind closed doors, but those are set by state law and are limited to a very few occasions.

Thursday's meeting, at which council members met in small groups in an attempt to bypass the open meetings law, was not one of those occasions.

Let's hope the council was simply mistaken in its belief that it had met the state guidelines. Next time, its members should know better.

Published in Editorials on January 10, 2016 1:16 AM