The city of Charlotte said Friday that interim City Attorney Anthony Fox misspoke during a news conference Wednesday when talking about state law governing closed City Council sessions.
Fox said Wednesday that state statutes prohibit elected officials from discussing publicly anything that happens in a closed-session meeting. He also said there are criminal penalties for discussing anything in closed session.
His assertions came as reporters questioned Mayor Vi Lyles and City Council members about a recent financial settlement with Police Chief Johnny Jennings over threatening text messages he received from a former council member.
Officials cited Fox’s statements when asked about the settlement.
When asked by WFAE after the news conference whether that was correct, Fox cited state statute 143-318.16 to support his statement.
However, that statute does not mention criminal penalties for disclosing closed-session discussions.
Fox said in a statement Friday: “During the May 7 press briefing, I was quoted as stating, ‘The law also provides that when you go into closed session, that information is confidential. It’s not to be shared. It also imposes criminal sanctions against anyone who has been found to violate that law.’ ”
Fox added that “some confusion exists on the application of that statement to the Meetings of Public Bodies Act (G.S. 143-318.11). I wish to clarify my statement and be specific as to my quote by stating a person could be subject to criminal sanctions when disclosing information contained in a personnel file under the Personnel Privacy Act (G.S. 160A-168), not the Meetings of Public Bodies Act.”
Public officials are allowed to discuss matters from a closed session, except for a few narrow instances — such as trade secrets by a private company or an employee’s personnel file.
State law defines a personnel file as including documents such as an employee’s annual evaluation.
But some City Council members have privately and publicly expressed concern about how city officials handled the settlement procedurally.
Some have questioned how the vote to approve the settlement was taken. One City Council member asked to change their vote from approving the settlement to rejecting it but was told it was too late. Several have also said council members were not informed of Fox’s decision in January to dismiss an ethics complaint against Bokhari over the text messages.
It’s possible the city’s revised statement on closed sessions could allow City Council members to publicly explore those questions.
