PORTSMOUTH, Va. (AP) - The Portsmouth City Council has voted to eliminate a rule that allowed $1,500 fines against members who speak publicly about closed meetings.
Media outlets report Councilman Bill Moody was fined in January 2016 for posting on Facebook about information discussed in a closed session. A judge ruled in July that the city violated the Freedom of Information Act when it fined Moody.
The council voted 5 to 1 Tuesday to kill the $1,500 fines. Vice-Mayor Paige Cherry called the rule a “distraction.”
Councilman Dr. Mark Whitaker was the only member who dissented, telling WAVY-TV (https://bit.ly/2hQU661) that removing the rule amounted to a racially based double-standard. Whitaker says that when the fine was instituted against black members in the past - like former mayor James Holley - it wasn’t a problem.
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Information from: WAVY-TV, https://www.wavy.com/
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