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Roanoke council votes unanimously to convene closed meetings, schedules interviews for vacant seat
Summary
At an informal Feb. 3 session, Roanoke City Council voted unanimously to hold closed meetings on vacancies, interim council appointment, litigation consultation and property disposition; council also accepted 11 statements of intent for a vacant council seat and scheduled 11:00 a.m. interviews for three candidates.
Roanoke City Council on Feb. 3 approved four separate motions to convene closed meetings and accepted statements of intent for a council vacancy following the resignation of Joseph L. Cobb.
Mayor Cobb requested a closed session to discuss vacancies on certain authorities, boards, commissions and committees; the motion was moved and seconded and carried on a roll call with all members voting 'Aye.' The council similarly authorized closed sessions to select a candidate for an interim city council member position, to consult with legal counsel on actual litigation (citing Code of Virginia procedures), and to discuss disposition of city-owned property where public discussion would adversely affect the bargaining position of the public body. Each motion passed on unanimous roll calls.
The clerk recorded attendance and votes during the roll calls: Vice Mayor McGuire (Aye), Mr. Nash (Aye), Mr. Vollison (Aye), Mr. Hagen (Aye), Miss Sanchez Jones (Aye), and Mayor Cobb (Aye). The transcript includes one inconsistent reference to "Mayor Khan" during a roll call; the council otherwise recorded Mayor Cobb present earlier in the session.
Council accepted 11 statements of intent for the vacancy created by the resignation of Joseph L. Cobb. The council announced it will interview Kathy S. Cohen, Patricia White Boyd and Evelyn Powers at 11:00 a.m. in the city council chamber; those interviews will be televised live on Facebook and RVTV. Council recessed for the closed meetings and planned to return for interviews and an afternoon session.
No formal appointments or selections were made during the informal briefing; all four closed-meeting motions were procedural votes to permit executive discussion under the Virginia open-meetings statute.
