Disagreement in Westminster over Closed Door Meetings

At the last minute, the manager of Westminster’s electric power provider cancelled a presentation to city leaders in a disagreement over whether what he had to say should be said behind closed doors or in the open. Westminster City Administrator Chris Carter told the city council last night he intends to confront the issue during a meeting on Thursday with the board of the Piedmont Municipal Power Agency (PMPA). Carter told the mayor and council that the PMPA governing board, on which Carter serves as a Westminster representative, wants the city to extend its contract beyond the scheduled 2035 expiration. Carter questions whether closed-door discussions are proper for a matter that carries great importance to what the city pays for its wholesale power supply and what its retail customers are charged.