Council group talks business in private

Four of the eight members of the Raleigh City Council have met in private to discuss city business -- a practice other council members and the mayor say is improper and unethical.

Council member Rodger Koopman said he and Thomas Crowder, Russ Stephenson and Nancy McFarlane are involved in the meetings.

Koopman, who with McFarlane joined the council in December, said the foursome has had telephone conference calls once or twice. More frequently, they meet in person, he said. The four council members have all been outspoken about the need for Raleigh to take more aggressive steps to manage its growth and pay for it with additional fees on development.

"We basically talk about the agenda. We talk about the issues. We talk about our positions, and we talk about what the issues are in our district and whether we can support each other," Koopman said.

Raleigh City Attorney Thomas McCormick and Amanda Martin, lawyer for the N.C. Press Association, say the meetings do not violate the state Open Meetings Law, which requires public bodies to conduct meetings in public. Under the law, a meeting occurs when a majority of a public body gathers and deliberates public business.

But Mayor Charles Meeker said such meetings should not occur because four votes is enough to keep an issue from being decided.

"I think it's improper for four council members to meet in private and make a decision on what to do at the council table," Meeker said. "Four is not a majority, but if you decide not to do something it is a majority."

Stephenson said he takes his guidance from the city attorney and not the mayor. "I respect his opinion, but he's not the one that's being paid to advise me," he said.

Koopman said the purpose of the meetings is to share information, not get everyone on the same page.

"We are not the Soviet Politburo," he said. "That's not how this thing works."

Subcommittee factor

Council members Philip Isley and James West, neither of whom have been included in the meetings, expressed concern that the four-person meetings could allow the council members to refer items to the subcommittees they control. Council members serve on one or more subcommittees in addition to meeting as an eight-person body. The subcommittees make recommendations on issues that are then voted on by the full council.

Crowder, Stephenson, McFarlane and Koopman represent a majority on the city's Comprehensive Planning Committee and the Public Works Committee. Crowder and McFarlane represent two of the four votes on the Budget and Economic Development Committee.

"You can influence things on committees before going to the council," West said. He said the four-person meetings were unethical and did not show good judgment.

"I think it erodes the trust and confidence the people put in us," West said.

Martin, the press association lawyer, said the four-person meetings would not constitute a public meeting as long as items related to the subcommittees' work are not discussed.

Koopman, Stephenson, McFarlane and Crowder all said they are well aware of the Open Meetings Law and that they do not discuss items pending before subcommittees.

"We would never get ourselves in a compromising position where we're going to break any ethics or open meeting rules," said Crowder, who has been on the council since 2003. "We're always trying to get five votes on something to get consensus ... within the limits of the Open Meetings Law."

McFarlane said she uses the meetings to explore issues before the council.

"To me, it's just a fact-finding mission," she said.