Adrian, MI – Tensions rose during the Adrian City Commission meeting on Tuesday evening as commissioners debated on going into closed session. The agenda for the January 21st meeting noted that there would be a discussion of department head appointments and related matters, with the option of going into closed session to review an opinion of City Attorney Burke Castleberry.
Commissioner Mary Roberts made the motion to go into closed session, with Commissioner Robert Behnke seconding. Unusually for the commission, the initial vote to go into closed session failed by a margin of 2 to 5.
After the vote, Commissioner Gordon Gauss expressed confusion over what the topic of the session would be, with City Administrator Greg Elliott explaining that it would have involved confidential legal analysis and sensitive information regarding city appointments.
Gauss alleged that the item on the agenda was not the one that commissioners had requested, while Commissioners Matthew Schwartz and Kelly Castleberry voiced frustration that they had not received information on the matter ahead of time.
Commissioner Castleberry made another motion to go into closed session, so as not to hold up the meeting, and another vote was held, this time with only Commissioner Schwartz voting “no.” The resulting closed session lasted roughly thirty minutes.
To watch the full discussion on the matter of closed sessions during the recent meeting, click the following meeting video and begin watching at the 55 minute 22 second mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiB5wKbstRw&t=3505s
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