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Midland council stages MDC interviews in public after debate over open‑meetings law
Summary
After an extended debate about whether interviews of Midland Development Corporation (MDC) applicants should occur in executive session, the council chose to offer applicants the option of public interviews and proceeded to conduct several in open session, hearing from candidates who emphasized transparency, ROI and community engagement.
The Midland City Council debated whether interviews of applicants for the Midland Development Corporation (MDC) board should occur in executive session or in public, then gave applicants the choice to be interviewed in open session and proceeded to hear several candidates publicly.
Councilwoman Poole (Speaker 18) urged that applicants are not public officers and cited Attorney General opinions to argue interviews should be public "from a public trust standpoint." The city attorney (Speaker 25) said his office believes interviews for decision‑making boards have historically been handled in executive session and that the council was within the legal guardrails to do so, but acknowledged the council could hold interviews in open session and that applicants could elect to be public.
Mayor Lori Blong said the council would offer applicants the choice to be interviewed publicly and that if an applicant declined, the council would defer that interview. With that approach, the council began public interviews of MDC applicants.
Applicants interviewed in open session included Luis (Speaker 26), a former county commissioner who emphasized housing and water access and said he would prioritize community outreach and coordination among taxing entities; Denzel (Speaker 16), a local business owner and oil‑and‑gas executive who said he would prioritize industry diversification and infrastructure while stressing transparency; Abe (Speaker 20), Planning & Zoning chair, who emphasized job creation and quality‑of‑life improvement; and James Griffith (Speaker 4), who described experience in finance and development and emphasized the need to communicate complex projects to the public. Candidates answered council questions about the 4A vs. 4B sales tax distinction, measuring ROI (jobs and tax base growth), conflict‑of‑interest handling and the board’s relationship with MDC staff.
Council members said they prefer public interviews for transparency but acknowledged scheduling challenges and the applicants’ ability to request executive session in specific circumstances. The meeting record shows the council will continue interviewing additional applicants and that applicants can request an open or closed interview at the time of their meeting.
