Council Closed-Door Meeting Scrutinized

The issue of closed-door meetings — often referred to as “executive sessions” — provoked no shortage of debate during Monday night’s city council meeting in Greenbelt.

Resident Molly Lester questioned the practice during one portion of the three-plus-hour meeting, asking why the council plans to wall off the public and press from an upcoming meeting concerning the city’s possible acquisition of the historic Greenbelt Middle School.

Composed of 93,000 square feet of useable space, portions of the school may be converted into a community center, according to the recommendation of a task force by the city council in recent months.

“What is the purpose of closing the meeting?” Lester asked, especially since the council, she said, has previously indicated any action over the school will require the public’s input and blessing.

Mayor Judith "J" Davis emphasized that the closed-door meeting would not serve “in lieu of” eventual public input and action over the historic building.

“I don’t understand why it’s funny,” Davis then said, in an apparent response to Lester, still standing behind a podium before the council.

Like Lester, council member Rodney Roberts made no bones about where he stands on the issue.

“Sometimes the skids can be greased,” said Roberts, implying that what gets discussed behind closed doors can influence issues later presented to the public. That, he added, renders the public’s input a “formality,” rather than fundamental to the council’s decision-making process.

Roberts later said the public needs to be a part of the process first — before getting into the “fine print” of what a new community center will involve.

“I’m not trying to keep anything away from the public,” Mayor Davis said, emphasizing that the city council itself doesn’t know enough about the costs associated with the new community center. She also later stated that the executive session may help “solidify maybe our own opinions” before turning to the public, whose input, she said, would not be limited by a closed-door session.

Mayor Pro Tem Emmett Jordan followed a similar track, citing deadlines associated with acquiring the school and saying the executive session would offer the council a little time to “iron things out” before going public.

For his part, city solicitor Robert Manzi said that that the council’s executive session, scheduled for Aug. 29, is “perfectly appropriate.” The discussion of acquiring a property, he said, is clearly within the bounds for a closed meeting under Maryland’s Open Meetings Act.  

But he also confirmed Roberts’ position. “You could do this in a public session.”

By evening's end, the council voted 6-1 in favor of a closed-door meeting, with Roberts remaining the lone dissenter.