Board moves into closed session to discuss county administrator candidate and draft employment agreement

During the meeting the Board of Supervisors voted to amend the agenda and enter a closed session to consider personnel matters related to a candidate for the county administrator position and to review a draft employment agreement.

County counsel read the statutory basis for a closed meeting under Virginia Code §2.2‑3711, citing the exemption that permits discussion of appointments, assignment, promotion, performance, salaries, discipline, resignation of public officers or employees and a separate exemption for discussions of the investment of public funds where disclosure would adversely affect the government unit’s financial interests. The read motion explicitly said the narrower purpose was to discuss the candidate the board is considering hiring for the county administrator position and a draft employment agreement for the same.

The board voted in favor of amending the agenda and moving into closed session; members indicated their votes by raising hands. After the closed session, the board returned to open session and the board chair called for certification that only the authorized topics were discussed; members went around the room and provided the recorded certification.

No names of the candidate or terms of the draft agreement were discussed on the public record during the open session portions of the meeting, and no formal appointment was announced in open session following the certification.

Actions recorded in the minutes from the meeting indicate the board followed the Virginia statutory process for adding the closed session to the agenda, convening under the cited statutory exception and certifying compliance upon return to open session.