These boards advise about Raleigh policies and projects. But should their votes be public?

For decades, Citizen Advisory Councils have advised Raleigh leaders on city policy, projects and proposed development.

Sounds like a public body, right? Well, that’s not clear. And with proposed rules changes now coming to the councils, no one seems to know whether the boards must comply with North Carolina’s open records and public meeting laws.

The 19 groups — commonly called CACs — each represent a different geographical part of Raleigh. They elect their own officers, they usually meet once a month and each group receives an annual $1,000 stipend from the city.

And if you live in the city of Raleigh, technically you’re a member of a CAC.

They often hear land rezoning cases and vote whether to recommend the project to the city’s planning commission and eventually to the city council. The final CAC vote is included in the city council’s agenda for rezoning cases.

When The News and Observer asked Interim Raleigh City Attorney Dottie Leapley if the citizen councils are considered public bodies by the city and must comply with public records laws, she said she wasn’t able to answer the question.

“I’m limited in what I can share on specific legal issues outside the attorney-client relationship, so the question isn’t one that I’m able to answer for you,” she wrote in an email.

A follow-up statement from the city said Raleigh “has not taken or issued a formal position regarding the question you asked. With that said, the city does certainly value transparency and strives to exceed minimum standards in that regard.”

North Carolina Open Government Coalition Director Jonathan Jones argues that the citizen groups should be subject to open meeting laws and public records laws because they’re appointed by the city council, even if you consider the appointment “squishy.”

“These people have been given a charge by the city council to take on an advisory function,” he said. “They are doing that. And there are people, or at least these officers, who are designated members. So I think, to me, they meet the definition of public body.”

But Amanda Martin, an attorney with the North Carolina Press Association, called the CACs a “weird hybrid.” She said she is “inclined to say these are not public bodies.”

New bylaws in works

The question arose when new bylaws were proposed by the Raleigh Citizen Advisory Council, which is made up by the leadership of each individual CAC.

“As a body, the RCAC is currently engaging with the CAC membership about updating our bylaws to implement some basic standards to help insure consistency and protect the integrity of the CACs and the voice of the citizens we serve,” said Shelley Winters, chairwoman of the RCAC, in an email.

She emphasized that the proposed bylaws haven’t been formally recommended by the RCAC and are still in draft form. Feedback from members will help finalize the document.

The proposed changes range from outlining when elections of officers would take place, how the boundaries of CACs could change and what can be discussed at a special meeting. One item that has caused concern for some members is that during officer elections, people would have to print and sign their names on their ballots.

“The minutes must reflect how each voter casts his or her ballot,” according to the draft bylaw. “The signed ballots, which are public records available for review, must be kept until the minutes are approved.”

Donna Bailey, who leads the Wade CAC and serves on the RCAC, said the bylaws hadn’t been updated in a long time and that it was time to try and make the groups more consistent.

“We are trying to make the CACs better, stronger and more consistent with certain things like elections,” Bailey said.

But the portion of the rules outlining that election votes have to be open came from the interim city attorney, Bailey said, adding that she hopes the issue will be clarified when the new city attorney begins later this year.

“We do not believe we fit into that category of having to follow those open meeting laws,” she said. “That’s for city council and elected officials, we’re just a citizens group.”

Open records and public meeting laws do apply to council-appointed citizen groups such as the planning commission or the bicycle and pedestrian advisory commission.

Diminished privacy?

It can be uncomfortable to have your vote revealed, but Jones, of the Open Government Coalition, said people have diminished privacy when they participate in public meetings.

“The fact of the matter is people are choosing to stand up during a meeting and announce their position for or against a particular project and, in doing so, they’ve made themselves an active participant,” he said. “And they should not be able to hide behind a veil of anonymity when they are actively attempting to influence how a particular matter is handled.”

One person critical of the notion that the groups are public bodies is Raleigh council member David Cox.

A frequent visitor to CAC meetings in his district, Cox said the groups are valued because they’ve operated independently for 40 years and didn’t think they should have to record who voted for each item or who they elect.

“Some have suggested recently that CACs should be regulated by city government and if you attend a CAC meeting and vote on an issue, then your name, address, and how you vote should be recorded and published,” he wrote on Facebook. “I consider this interpretation ridiculous and an egregious intrusion on peoples’ first amendment rights of free speech and assembly. We utilize secret ballots when voting for elected officials. If a CAC chooses to use secret ballots for issues, then it should do so and not compel people to reveal their votes.”

Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane said she’d have to ask the city attorney whether the groups would have to meet public records or open meeting laws, but that they are independently run by citizens.

“Whether I have an opinion or not doesn’t really matter,” she said. “I think it’s up to what the attorney thinks about how they were statutory created. My understanding is they had always been citizen driven. We don’t appoint them. It’s not like a board or commission that we appoint or created. I don’t know.”

Anna Johnson; 919-829-4807; @anna_m_johnson