Despite criticism from open-meetings experts, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors again closed out the public to discuss the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project this week.
The board’s continued use of closed sessions to discuss the planned 23-mile extension of rail to Dulles has drawn fire as a possible violation of Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act, which sets forth a narrow set of circumstances in which elected officials can exclude the media and public from meetings.
At a board meeting Monday, the same day an Examiner article appeared questioning a March 12 closed meeting, supervisors voted to again discuss the topic behind closed doors.
“It really troubles me that they decided to do this again, when they’ve been put on notice there have been concerns as to whether or not they should be in [closed] session,” said Loren Cochran of the Arlington-based Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. “Either they’re awfully confident that what they have is truly deserving of a [closed] session, or they’re just flouting the open meetings law.”
The county is relying on a provision in the act that allows a closed session for legal consultation on “actual or probable litigation” or on specific legal matters, which it invoked during the two most recent meetings. On March 12, the county also cited an open-meetings exemption based on contract negotiations, which was not cited Monday. That justification drew fire because the commonwealth and Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, not the Fairfax board, negotiated with contractors to design and build the first half of the rail.
Documents related to the March 12 meeting showed that the board also apparently discussed political and fiscal issues in closed session, which are not covered by the exemption. No details were available on the most recent closed meeting.
Fairfax County Board Chairman Gerald Connolly said he consulted County Attorney David Bobzien after reading the Examiner article, and Bobzien stood by his original advice that the closed meetings were legally sound.
