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prohibit all executive meetings of any governmental body,

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including county governments and including committees of

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the legislature?

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DELEGATE WILLONER: It would stand as it stands

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now. Unfortunately, as I said, th$case law and interpre-

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tation of meetings is limited to those meetings which are

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formal meetings. As is noted in the mandatory statute

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where you are discussing personnel matters or where you are

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discussing acquisition of land, those could be executive

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sessions, but this would have to be protected by the

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legislature.

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DELEGATE JAMES: Could the Governor meet with

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the staff in private?

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DELEGATE WILLONER: The research in this area was

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a little difficult. There is an apparent inherant right

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in the executive, of the executive staff to meet in private.

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I would have to say that the language "meeting" in this does

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not go to meetings of the executive staff. The only law

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I could find on it was law involving presidential meetings

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which have been held to be -- the President has a right

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to closed meetings, for example, Cabinet meetings and