Metro’s board of directors held a private conference call Thursday about the agency’s lack of communication — even though experts say that same meeting would have violated laws if the officials held it in at least two of their own jurisdictions.
The board had not scheduled public meetings since July, but the transit agency acknowledged the board has had several conference calls since then. They declined to let reporters from The Washington Examiner and The Washington Post listen to Thursday’s call.
“It’s a private call,” Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said. “It is purely a communication tool for however many board members are available.”
But Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, chided the agency for the move. “You couldn’t get away with something like this in Maryland or Virginia,” she said. “But Metro can do what it wants.”
She called it bad public relations in a summer when the agency is losing the public’s faith. “Number one, they’re spending one heckuva a lot of our money,” she said. “And number two, they have jurisdiction of an operation that just had a tragic, multiple-death accident.”
Riders have criticized the transit agency for a lack of openness and communication, even well before the fatal June 22 train crash. In April, the Riders’ Advisory Council, a group of riders selected by Metro officials to represent the views from each jurisdiction, wrote a letter to the board asking for more openness in how it determined the current budget.
Open meetings laws
Local jurisdictions have rules requiring government boards to hold public meetings. But Metro says it doesn’t need to meet those rules.
» Maryland: Public meeting rules apply when a quorum of a public body convenes for the consideration or transaction of public business, with a quorum defined as a majority of the board or a number otherwise specified by law. A state handbook says “a telephone conference call in which a quorum of members is conducting business simultaneously is a ‘meeting’ that must comply with the act.”
» District: All meetings (including hearings) of any department, agency, board, or commission of the District government, including meetings of the Council of the District of Columbia, at which official action of any kind is taken shall be open to the public. No resolution, rule, act, regulation, or other official action shall be effective unless taken, made, or enacted at such meeting.
» Virginia: No local governing body “shall conduct a meeting wherein the public business is discussed or transacted through telephonic, video, electronic or other communication means where the members are not physically assembled.”
Then this week, the agency came under fire for failing to warn riders enough that several stations, including the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport stop, would be closed this weekend for track work. Thursday’s meeting was scheduled before the kerfuffle, Metro said, but members said the push for better communication was discussed. Still, the transit agency would not say which or how many board members participated. “I am not at liberty to share that information because it was a private call,” Farbstein said.
Two board members estimated that at least a majority of the 12-person board were on the call.
If Virginia’s law applied, any meeting among three or more members would have to be conducted publicly even if done on the phone, said Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government. Maryland law also says a meeting would need to be open to the public if a quorum — usually defined by the state as a majority — of members attended.
“None of the federal, Maryland, Virginia or D.C. laws apply to us,” said Metro Vice Chairman Peter Benjamin. “That’s the way it is.”
Normally, the board holds meetings open to the public, then votes to go into executive session to discuss certain matters such as lawsuits, personnel issues or contracts. But they must return to open session to vote on any policies.
Normally, the board holds meetings open to the public, then votes to go into executive session to discuss certain matters such as lawsuits, personnel issues or contracts. But they must return to open session to vote on any policies.
However, the agency and several board members said the calls were not an executive session.
“There’s never any action taken on these calls,” said Alexandria Mayor Bill Euille. “It’s a dialogue.” He said he felt it would be “inappropriate” for the public to listen.
