Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 4, 1992 TAG: 9202040097
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Greg Edwards
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
SHEDDING LIGHT ON `BIG BOYS'
Does anybody remember Henry Howell?Ol' "Give 'em Hell" Henry, with his thick spectacles and mischievous grin, ran for governor of Virginia three times, twice as a Democrat, once as an independent.
Howell was never elected governor, but he did add a swatch of much needed color to our typically bland blue-suited brand of Virginia politics.
A favorite target of Henry's high-pitched populist tongue was "The Big Boys," meaning the leaders of the state's big corporations and the politicians who marched in lock step behind them.
Howell had a penchant for cute little slogans. One of them was: "There's more running around in the dark than Santa Claus." Virginia's big boys, he claimed, were doing things quietly, in private, which might be good for them but not necessarily good for the people of Virginia.
Now, reflecting on a year of covering Montgomery County, Howell's concerns about people in power keeping the rest of us in the dark come back to mind.
During 1991, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors moved into executive session for a portion of almost every one of its twice-monthly meetings.
Executive session is a nice-sounding legal term that means a governmental body is going behind closed doors to discuss public business out of public earshot.
According to county records, the supervisors held 113 separate discussions of county business in private last year. All the closed discussions were held according to the terms spelled out in state law.
Although I've never been in philosophical agreement with closed meetings, Virginia's Freedom of Information law provides local governments with some legal reasons to hold private discussions.
For things such as evaluating employees, legal matters and buying property for public purposes it can be argued that there's sometimes a legitimate public interest in private discussions. The discussions must be about specific employees or specific legal matters. They cannot deal with general public policy, which should inarguably be discussed in the open.
What worries me is the large number of meetings the Montgomery board holds in private and the danger that some policy discussion can creep into these meetings.
But then again, maybe I'm just a chronic worrier.
With the exception of discussions about personnel - of which there were 53 last year - very seldom does the board come out of closed session and take action.
I believe it's valid to wonder why, if the closed sessions are held only to nail down specific details, more of them aren't followed by some sort of public action.
At the last two board meetings, Supervisor James Moore of Blacksburg has objected to the board's taking its discussions about solid waste disposal behind closed doors. Moore has argued that the board's thinking on garbage disposal is something citizens should know about.
But at the last meeting, Supervisor Henry Jablonski objected that Moore's protestations were leaving people with the impression that the board was doing something wrong. The board would be discussing a proposed contract involving waste handling, he said.
Moore still voted against holding the discussion in private. But the six other board members agreed to go into closed session to talk about the landfill issue and nine other matters of public business.
Maybe this fear of mine of closed meetings is irrational. But because these meetings are held with the boardroom door shut there's no good way of knowing.
Greg Edwards covers Montgomery County for the Roanoke Times & World-News' New River Valley bureau.