Graham’s city council spent about 15 minutes in a closed session at the end of Tuesday night’s monthly meeting.
The purpose was listed as consulting with the city’s attorney’s.
Alamance News publisher Tom Boney, Jr., present to cover the meeting for the newspaper, questioned whether there was any existing lawsuit to be discussed. The North Carolina Open Meetings Law requires that public bodies disclose which case(s) they expect to receive advice about during any closed meeting with their attorney(s).
City attorney Bob Ward said there was no current lawsuit to be discussed.
Unexplained was mayor Jennifer Talley’s request to be recused from the topic of the closed meeting. Talley remained in the council chambers, while the other four members, the city manager, and two attorneys convened in a nearby conference room.
Talley would not explain her recusal, when questioned by the newspaper’s reporter. She told the newspaper during the time while her colleagues were out of the room that she felt it would be explained when the council returned.
But when the council returned, there was an immediate motion to adjourn, and no explanation of the closed session, or Talley’s absence from it, was provided.
