Newport News council votes to enter and certify closed sessions under Virginia code

At the end of the Jan. 27 work session, councilmembers moved multiple times to go into closed session under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. A motion made pursuant to section 2.2‑3711(a) of the Code of Virginia (1950) cited subsections permitting closed discussion of (1) interviews of prospective candidates for appointment to boards and commissions, (5) discussion concerning prospective business or industry and (6) discussion of public funds and potential investments to support transportation facilities and lease terminations.

Council conducted roll calls for the motions. The first motion recorded votes from Vice Mayor Bethany, Councilman Coleman, Councilman Harris, Mayor Jones, Councilman Long and Councilman Vic/Vick and the transcript reports "Motion carries 6 0." Subsequent motions and ratifications recorded roll calls reported as "Motion carried 5 0." The council moved to ratify appointed board and commission members, to hold a closed meeting for city‑clerk candidate interviews and then to certify that only lawfully exempt business was discussed in closed meeting; the certification motion also passed in a roll call.

The motions quoted the statutory language from Code of Virginia §2.2‑3711(a) as stated on the record; the council then certified that only public business matters identified in the motion were heard, discussed or considered in the closed meeting.

No specifics about the content of the closed sessions, candidate names or business prospects were disclosed in open session; council adjourned after certification.