... That is
still the question.
You may remember that the Town's attorney decided that a side chat between two Town Council members (who happen to comprise a committee)
wasn't a meeting, because they
weren't conducting committee business.Since
Guynn, Memmer & Dillon hadn't initially demonstrated expertise in
FOIA issues, the T's sought input from the Virginia Coalition for Open Government and the Virginia Freedom of Information Advisory Council.
The issue is still murky. VCOG points out that FOIA does allow one-on-one communication. VFOIAC points out that a two person committee is a public body. The inquiring T doesn't mind being corrected on the application of the definition of meeting. Applying FOIA to Christiansburg's governance is pretty much uncharted territory; we're still climbing the FOIA learning curve.
The most disturbing aspect of the whole situation was when one of the Town Council members
called out for someone to "
Keep that woman out of our affairs up here."
That Council Member doesn't realize that the affairs are not "his," nor are they "the Council's."
The affairs are those of the citizens of Christiansburg - the public.