A recent closed meeting was the source of some tension among Martinsville officials.
At their meeting next week, members of the Martinsville City Council are expected to address concerns expressed by member Aaron Rawls about the timing and purpose of the body’s March 17 closed special session, in which they discussed the contract of City Manager Aretha Ferrell-Benavides.
The meeting was a continuation of contract talks from October, according to Mayor L.C. Jones.
“It’s just timing,” Jones said of the gap between the body’s October closed session and the meeting earlier this week. He said that the preliminary budgeting process and getting the board’s two new members Rayshaun Gravely and Julian Mei up to speed contributed to the delay.
“The new council members are still in transition,” Jones said. “As we get through the budgeting season, whatever that allocation or changes to the city manager’s salary, that needs to be budgeted. We need to get that done while we’re in budget season. That’s why we circled back.”
In an email he sent to his fellow council members and later shared with members of the media, Rawls said that the meeting’s timing was a point of concern. Rawls did not attend the meeting due to a schedule conflict.
“I need to ask that we schedule meetings and provide schedule change awareness at least 7 business days in advance,” Rawls wrote.
Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act says that notices of public meetings must be posted three working days in advance of the meeting. Boards and councils are also allowed to convene impromptu closed sessions during the course of a regular session.
The city posted an advertisement for the meeting on March 13.
Rawls said to councilors that while he doesn’t expect his schedule to be prioritized, he doesn’t feel that simply adhering to Virginia’s FOIA is enough.
“I do ask that we be provided with reasonable advance notice, in addition to a proper agenda with defined topics,” Rawls wrote. “An open session where we discuss spending our citizens’ money should never be a spur of the moment event. It’s not just disrespectful to citizens; it’s risky.”
Gravely could not be reached for comment, and Mei declined to comment. Asked via email for comment, council member Kathy Lawson responded with information about the rules for closed sessions.
Rawls also expressed concerns about the action taken at the March 17 meeting. According to Jones, the board voted unanimously to allow Jones to engage in salary negotiations with Ferrell-Benavides. Ferrell-Benavides replaced interim manager Glen Adams in October 2023.
Jones said he believes that the budgeting season is the appropriate time to handle contract negotiations. In his email to his fellow councilors, Rawls disagreed.
“Our citizens are amidst difficult economic times,” Rawls wrote. “They are facing significant tax increases. They will continue to endure tax & service fee increases for the foreseeable future. Much of this is the result of negligent and avoidable behavior from their elected leaders and government administration. It’s tone deaf, cruel, and selfish to raise executive pay right now.”
Rawls reiterated these sentiments and added his focus is on the lesser-paid staff members.
“I will have to insist that we focus on the hardworking men and women who are severely underpaid before we even discuss increasing the pay of someone making $175,000/year,” Rawls said. “We have men and women working dangerous jobs in miserable conditions who make less than $40,000. These are the people who show up for us every single day to provide our basic services like clean water. Let’s take care of them first.”
The city’s website lists the city manager’s annual salary at $183,855.
Both Rawls and Jones said they plan to address these and other concerns at their upcoming regular session scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday in the Municipal Building. Jones said he intends to discuss the council’s concerns about information from the March 17 closed session being leaked. He did not specify who the leaker might be.
“There was information from that meeting that was released to the media and other individuals,” Jones said, adding that he would like to have this discussion during an open part of the meeting. “That should be in a public meeting and the public should be very aware about what is going on in council.”
