TDA to resume closed session Tuesday morning

The Elizabeth City-Pasquotank Tourism Development Authority was scheduled to hold its third straight closed-door meeting on Tuesday, apparently to continue discussions that began nearly two weeks ago on a confidential matter.

TDA board members have been tight-lipped about the reasons for the closed sessions.

TDA members first convened in closed session on Thursday, June 27, but after more than two hours agreed to recess the meeting until Tuesday, July 2. That meeting was also held in closed session before it, too, was recessed. The TDA board voted to resume the meeting on Tuesday, July 9, at 10 a.m.

Both Pasquotank County Attorney Mike Cox, who is also the TDA attorney, and attorney John Leidy, an employment law expert with the Hornthal Riley Ellis & Maland firm, have been participating in the meetings.

Local government agencies in North Carolina are allowed by state law to meet in closed session if they are meeting for a purpose exempt from the state’s Open Meetings Law. Those purposes can include discussing the location or expansion of an industry or other business, consulting with the board’s attorney on existing litigation, establishing the board’s negotiating position for the acquisition of real property, or discussing personnel matters such as the hiring or firing of an employee.

The TDA’s current staff includes Visit EC Executive Director Nosakhere Kamau and Events Specialist Savannah Winslow.

TDA Chairwoman Holly Audette said last week that Kamau, who was hired in February to run the tourism agency, is still the agency’s executive director.

The TDA board meets in the boardroom of Visit Elizabeth City in the WaterWorks building.