What’s a “two by two”? It’s the name given to the practice of splitting the Waxhaw Board of Commissioners into groups of two so the town staff can meet with them away from the public eye. According to NC Open Meetings Law, the public must be invited when a majority of a legislative public body meets to discuss public business. Thus, by splitting the board into groups of two, the public need not be invited.
There are exceptions to the law that allow for closed session meetings when personnel matters need to be discussed. However, the purpose of two-by-twos is for town staff to present ideas to the board and get their feedback without the requirements of a public meeting.
This was the first topic I addressed this year as a newly-elected Commissioner. In January, it seemed that the board was willing to switch to a more transparent method of meeting preparation, but in March they went back to two-by-twos.
Text of comments:
Leading up to this meeting, I participated in the “two by two” process that the staff organizes. For those who are not aware, “two by two” refers to the splitting of this board into groups of two, so as to avoid the limits of Open Meeting statutes. These statutes are intended to ensure that decision-making on public matters is public, by specifying a maximum number of officials who can meet privately to discuss government business.
The rationale for the “two by two” meetings, is that they allow the staff to take the temperature of the board on various matters before discussing them publicly. The idea is that this will save the staff from spending too much time on something that will not survive public presentation before the board.
But this “two by two” process also costs the staff time, because they have to make the same presentation three times – before three different pairings of board members. We are spending a lot of resources on avoiding public scrutiny.
The “two by two” process also violates the spirit of Open Meeting statutes, in that consensus is developed behind closed doors.
In my opinion, this manufactured consent has the effect of suppressing citizen engagement in our local government. People feel left out of the decision-making process.
I think we should add this as a discussion item for the upcoming retreat, so we can figure out how to be more efficient and transparent in our meeting preparations.