Bullet Permits, Part Deux

Oh boy did I call this one.

From GRNC

Whitley Proposal "Unofficially" Heard By Durham Council

REV. WHITLEY ADDRESSES COUNCIL INFORMALLY AFTER MEETING

We advised you earlier that the Durham City Council had cancelled the committee hearing on the "bullet ownership bill" being bandied about by Acorn Community Organizer, Rev. Melvin Whitley. Well, being masters of subterfuge, Mayor Bill Bell and the council did the next best thing. They heard it anyway, but unofficially and after the formal meeting.

In the spirit of keeping it off the record, Mayor Bell said in the Durham Herald-Sun on Jan. 23, that he "at least wants to put a request to Durham's General Assembly delegation to 'let them figure out whether they can or can't support it.'" As was noted in Paul Valone's column on the examiner.com Bell is a member of "Mayors Against Illegal Guns."

Mayor Bill Bell is arrogant. The rest of the council isn't much better. But you know I think North Carolina has an open meetings law.

I found an explanation of North Carolina’s Open Meetings Law at the Citizen Media Law Project. The Open Meetings law

requires that the official meetings of public bodies be open to the public. The law defines an "official meeting" as a gathering of a majority of members of a public body "for purposes of conducting hearings, participating in deliberations, or voting upon or otherwise transacting the public business" of the public body.

The law defines a "public body" as

any elected or appointed authority, board, commission, committee, council, or other body of the State, or of one or more counties, cities, school administrative units, constituent institutions of The University of North Carolina, or other political subdivisions or public corporations in the State that (i) is composed of two or more members and (ii) exercises or is authorized to exercise a legislative, policy-making, quasi-judicial, administrative, or advisory function. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 143-318.10(b).

So let’s see. The City Council, including Mayor Bell, met in an informal meeting after the formal meeting to hear the Rev. Whitley’s proposal. Mayor Bell said he “at least wants to put a request to Durham's General Assembly delegation to 'let them figure out whether they can or can't support it.'" So decisions were made at this informal meeting to take an action. Can the City Council have an ”informal meeting” where they deliberate on whether to take an action? Might that be a violation of North Carolina State law Mayor Bell? Or maybe that’s a question that should be asked to the North Carolina Attorney General? Hell, I don't know. What I do know is that the Durham City Council, and Mayor Bill Bell has once again shown its disrespect for the political process and its citizens by giving us a clear "fuck you."