PQA: Public shut out of Atlanta mayor’s LGBTQ board meeting
Tom Dempsey
Public shut out of Atlanta mayor’s LGBTQ board meeting
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ new LGBTQ advisory board will meet behind closed doors on Wednesday, which legal experts argue may violate the state’s Open Meetings Act.
Bottoms formed the 39-member advisory board in May, a panel she said “will help guide the city’s engagement with our LGBTQ residents, neighbors and friends.”
The first meeting of the board takes place on Wednesday and Bottoms will be present, but the session will not be open to the public or press, according to officials with One Atlanta, which encompasses the city's equity, diversity and inclusion office. One of the LGBTQ board's duties will be allocating $100,000 in public money to fight the city's HIV/AIDS epidemic, according to a city spokesperson.
Experts on Georgia's open meetings laws said closing the board meetings to the public could be problematic.
