Presently, the LNC or any committee has the authority to convene an Executive Session for the following purposes:
• Personnel matters
• Contractual negotiations
• Pending or potential litigation
• Political strategy requiring confidentiality
During these sessions, the Secretary is responsible for recording session occurrence, which are subsequently made available to the public.
However, I believe that a current practice is in breach of the Bylaws and the LNC Policy Manual (https://lpedia.org/w/images/c/c3/LNC_Policy_Manual-Adopted_thru_2024-02-04.pdf) regarding how many LP Committees operate. If you visit the committee’s page on LP.org (https://www.lp.org/lp-committees/), you’ll notice that numerous committees carry a disclaimer stating, “This is a confidential committee that does not have a public email discussion list.” Although this practice isn’t explicitly outlined in the LNC Policy Manual, I’ve been informed that operating as a confidential committee implies perpetual operation under Executive Session conditions. This extends beyond the usual topics for which the Executive Committee convenes Executive Sessions, and there seems to be no documented procedure for transitioning out of this confidentiality. Consequently, by simply carrying out their duties, I argue that each committee member may inadvertently breach this confidentiality.
To rectify this situation, I propose a change in our approach. Committees should only enter Executive Session when it’s necessary to maintain confidentiality. Additionally, committees should occasionally hold public sessions to facilitate public feedback. This adjustment would strike a better balance between confidentiality when required and transparency when it’s not.