City Council members urge transparency, eschew executive session for Fruits of Labor lease discussion

BECKLEY, WV (LOOTPRESS) – The oft-revisited issue of a Fruits of Labor lease emerged yet again at Tuesday evening’s meeting of Beckley City Council, with council members insisting that the issue be addressed before the public as opposed to during a private executive session discussion.

Council member, Natalie Coots stated that the issue had been delayed long enough and that the body of officials would be remiss not to address the lease situation directly.

Beckley City Attorney, William File remarked that he intended to bring council into executive session following the evening’s meeting to discuss the lease and his own prior discussions with Fruits of Labor President, Tammy Jordan.

“I’m actually going to ask at the end of our meeting tonight to go into executive session to discuss the negotiation I had today with [Jordan,] said File. “We are entitled to do that. I did check with the Ethics Commission.”

At-Large Council Representative, Sherrie Hunter took issue with the notion of the discussions being held behind closed doors in executive session, noting that other significant issues had been discussed before members of the public and that the lease discussion should be no different.

“On the fourth Tuesday in June, council was asked to go into executive session to discuss the Fruits of Labor lease. We have had public comments in front of our constituents, and I feel like I let my constituents down when I agreed to go into executive session.”

Hunter urged transparency from the city, declaring that constituents were entitled to knowledge of what was being decided with regard to such matters.

“We want to be inclusive; we also want to do what’s best,” said Hunter, garnering support from fellow members of council. “I believe that those conversations need to be in front of everybody.”

City of Beckley Mayor, Ryan Neal supported the notion that the Fruits of Labor lease should be definitively addressed so as to allow council to move forward with regard to the issue, stating, “I hate to keep putting that off. It’s just been dragging on [since] long before my time [as Mayor.] So, I’m with Natalie, it’s time to make a decision and move on.

A Workshop session has been scheduled for August 26th at which members of council are expected to discuss the Fruits of Labor lease issue. This session will be open to members of the public.

Following the “Public Comments” portion of Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor Neal successfully called for a motion to adjourn. A motion for the aforementioned executive session meeting was never made or approved.