Resident slaps Prince William Board of County Supervisors with FOIA lawsuit after post-riot meeting

A Prince William County resident is suing the county’s board of supervisors following an unpublicized meeting of five members of the governing body the day after a riot broke out in the county, near Manassas.

Alan Gloss, an eight-year resident of the Coles District and the plaintiff in the civil suit, says five the Democratic members of the Board of County Supervisors who attended the meeting violated Virginia Freedom of Information Act which requires meetings with more than two elected officials to be advertised to the public before they begin.

Cozy Bailey, the chairman of the Prince William County Police Department Citizen’s Advisory Board and husband to Potomac District Supervisor Andrea Bailey, called a meeting of the independent group made up of residents and business owners that provide feedback to county police regularly, at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 31. At issue — a riot that took place the night before at the intersection of Sudley Road and Sudley Manor Drive, outside Manassas, where five people were arrested, and four police officers were injured — one of them severely.

The three sitting Republican members of the Board of County Supervisors, who represent the western portion of the county where the riot took place, were not invited.

When supervisors who attended the meeting were asked about what was discussed, Occoquan District Supervisor Kenny Boddye was the only sitting supervisor who responded to Potomac Local News’ request for comment. He says elected leaders did not talk about county business during the meeting, and therefore, none of the supervisors would be in violation of the law.

“No public business was transacted; we did not take any actions as a Board nor did we suggest any policy directives would be taken at a later time. Why then, would my Republican colleagues propagate accusations that they know to be false?”

According to Virginia law, “Neither…the gathering or attendance of two or more members of a public body (a) at any place or function where no part of the purpose of such gathering or attendance is the discussion or transaction of any public business…or (b) at a public forum…shall be deemed a ‘meeting’ subject to the provisions of this chapter.”

Gloss, and the Republican supervisors who weren’t there, allege elected leaders in attendance opined about police policies concerning the use of force, and how they vow to change those policies.

The Virginia State Police was one of the multiple agencies called to help Prince William police during the riot, and it deployed pepper spray to restore order to the scene.

Virginia Delegate Lee Carter (D-Bristow, Manassas) was seen in a live video broadcast on Facebook taunting members of the state police civil disturbance unit and was later pepper sprayed. The Republican Party of Virginia the next day called for his resignation after a video surfaced of Carter threatening to defund the state police following the pepper spray incident.

Meanwhile, Woodbridge District Supervisors Margaret Franklin took to Facebook to denounce the use of pepper spray on the crowd.

“Please know that while those protests were taking place, myself, along with several of my colleagues made it clear to county police that we are against the use of tear gas,” Franklin penned on Facebook. “However, state police did in fact use tear gas and pepper spray.”

 

As the duly-elected Woodbridge District Supervisor, Franklin provides direction to County Executive Christopher Martino, who oversees the operation of county government, to include the police department. In her day job, Franklin is a Capitol Hill staffer with little, if any law enforcement background.

Statements like these from elected leaders could lead to police commanders making decisions based on what’s best for their career versus responding to a threat with the necessary force to keep the community safe, said Gloss.

“That statement is akin to ‘hey, my boss doesn’t want me to do this, so I am going to change the way my officers respond,'” said Gloss. “So I can only imagine how [Prince William County Police Cheif Barry Barnard] took that, or what kind of policies that are going to come into play because of that.”

In addition to the five sitting supervisors, Martino, and Prince William County Attorney Michele Robl also attended the meeting.

Advisory Board Chair Cozy Bailey told Potomac Local News that at the time of the meeting, attendees were more concerned about listening to the report from police on the events of the previous evening and talking about solutions to the rioting.

“I never considered the possibility of FOIA law violations or any other part of the Virginia Code. FOIA was not on my mind, assisting our police department was on my mind,” Bailey told Potomac Local News. “As a member of the Virginia African American Advisory Board, I have been briefed several times on relevant portions of the Virginia Code that govern public government meetings. Considering that the County Executive and the County Attorney were there, I think that if I or anyone else had thoughts about FOIA, one or both of them could have been consulted.”

Bailey, who is also the chief of the Prince William County Chapter of the NAACP, called the meeting “well attended,” and noted he made about 12 phone calls before the meeting in an effort to notify attendees the meeting would take place.

“My work with the NAACP has helped me to understand that for an informal, impromptu meeting such as this one, word spreads naturally and quickly,” said Bailey.

The Prince William County Board of Supervisors called an emergency meeting later that day at 4 p.m., where Assitant Police Chief Jared Phelps took responsibility for the rioters who were pepper-sprayed, even though it was Virginia State Police that used the chemical on the crowd. Prince Willaim police were in charge at the scene, so the responsibility falls with their agency, Phelps told leaders.

Also during that meeting, Republicans voiced their concerns for not being invited to the impromptu session of the police advisory board, held hours earlier.

“I can’t fathom how the entire western half of Prince William county as left out of the conversation, event thought the riot, the night prior, took place in western Prince William County,” said Gloss. “When you legislate for only certain areas of the county, you end up shutting out voices, and every voice matters.”

Members of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors are due in court on at 1:30 p.m. Monday, June 15, to provide statements for the case. County Attorney Robl can represent the Board of County Supervisors as a whole, but when it comes to alleged FOIA violations in a civil suit like this one where each supervisor is named, each is on own when it comes to retaining legal counsel, Robl told Potomac Local News.

County Sheriff Glendell Hill, the highest elected law enforcement officer in the county who has also attended the meeting, also received issued a subpoena to appear before a judge in the matter.  He received a text message from Police Chief Barnard, inviting him to the police advisory meeting.

“I don’t expect anything is going to come of this other than to tell the Board of County Supervisors to follow the law,” said Gloss.