Asheville City Council votes to enter closed session to consider confidential personnel and appointment matters

Mayor Esther Banhammer opened an afternoon meeting of the Asheville City Council and said the body would go into a closed session to consider privileged and confidential information and personnel-related matters.

Vice Mayor Antoinette Mosley moved that the council enter a closed session “to prevent disclosure of information that is privileged and confidential, pursuant to the laws of North Carolina, [and] to consider the qualifications, competence, performance, character, fitness, conditions of appointment, or conditions of initial employment of an individual public officer or employee or prospective public officer or employee,” reading the statutory authorizations aloud as recorded in the transcript.

Mosley cited the council’s statutory authorizations as noted in the meeting record. The mayor asked for a second, and a second was recorded. During a roll call, the transcript records “aye” votes for Vice Mayor Antoinette Mosley, Councilwoman Smith and Councilwoman Rennie; the motion passed and the council recessed to closed session.

The motion as read referenced North Carolina statutory authority for closed sessions related to confidential information and personnel matters; the transcript records the statute references as stated by the mover. After the roll call the mayor closed the public portion and the council moved immediately into the closed session.

No public testimony or additional discussion of the underlying personnel or privileged matters occurred on the public record in the transcript. The council’s stated reasons for the closed session were limited to the text of the motion and the statutes cited during the brief public proceeding. The council indicated it would reconvene after the closed session.