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Judge rules council e-mails broke law
A judge ruled this morning that Mayor Bill Beck and two other councilmen broke the state's open-meetings law by discussing city business via e-mails.
Date published: 12/13/2002
A judge ruled today that three Fredericksburg City Councilmen violated the state’s Freedom of Information Act by exchanging e–mails about public business. Fredericksburg Circuit Judge John W. Scott Jr. said Mayor Bill Beck, Vice Mayor Scott Howson and Councilman Matt Kelly broke the law when they discussed committee assignments in a series of e–mails they sent to each other last summer. Scott said the purpose of the e–mails was to achieve consensus, which should have been done in public session. The judge ruled that Councilman Tom Fortune did not violate the law because he did not send any e–mails about assignments after taking office in July. The judge dismissed two other e–mail counts against the four councilmen, saying they did not constitute violations because the electronic messages were intended to gather information only, not to reach a decision. Scott also dismissed all claims against Councilman Billy Withers. Withers did not send any of the e–mails the lawsuit claimed constituted illegal “meetings.” The judge also ruled that Beck, Howson and Kelly did not violate the state’s open-meetings law when they gathered with residents to discuss traffic problems on Charlotte Street. He said they were there to obtain information, not conduct city business. Scott did not impose any sanctions on the defendants. He is expected to rule Tuesday on a defense motion to impose sanctions on the plaintiffs for three of the 18 counts they initially included in their lawsuit. Former Vice Mayor Gordon Shelton and two city residents filed the suit against the council members.
Date published: 12/13/2002
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