A town hall meeting with the county councilmen

In response to a request from the Oconee Republican Party, the county attorney has weighed in on the legality or appropriateness of the county’s governing body accepting an invitation to appear in a town hall style meeting, sought by the GOP to further highlight the process that the county uses to arrive at an annual budget.  During the discussion of the invitation last night, county attorney David Root said the entire council is free to take part in such a meeting, as long as there’s a compliance with the Freedom of Information Act.  And that, he said, includes publicly advertising such a get together along with an invitation to allow the general public to attend.  Root says there is precedence for the five-member council attending a meeting of another entity.  He pointed to the evening years ago when the council attended a Clemson city council meeting, in response to a planned move by that city to pursue annexation of Oconee County property bordering to the west of the Clemson city limits.