Chair calls closed session of mayor and council to discuss personnel matter

The chair opened a closed session of the mayor and council Tuesday, saying, "Purpose of the closed session is regarding a personnel matter," and announced the meeting would resume in public at 6:00 p.m.

The session was set for 5:30 p.m. at the Worcester County Library's second-floor meeting room, with the chair noting the closed session would also take place in an additional on-site room. The chair cited "general provisions article 3-305 b" as the statutory authority for closing the meeting and read the scope for discussion to include appointment, employment, promotion, discipline, demotion, compensation, removal, resignation and performance evaluation of appointees, employees or officials.

A motion to enter closed session "to discuss a personnel matter" was made by Council Member Ores and seconded by Council Member Nair. The chair called for the vote; the ayes were recorded and the chair stated the vote was unanimous among those present, with Vice President Burrell and Council Member Nichols absent. The chair closed the public portion and reminded attendees, "See everybody at 06:00." The council planned to return to open session at 6:00 p.m.

Because the transcript records only the procedural motion and statutory citation and does not include the substance of the personnel discussion (the meeting moved into a closed session), this article reports the procedural outcome and the statutory basis for the closure rather than the content of the closed deliberations.