Two Prince William County residents who sued elected members of the Board of County Supervisors will have their day in the Virginia Supreme Court on Tuesday, November 1.
The state high court agreed to hear the case brought by Alan Gloss and Carol Fox, who are suing all five Democrats on the Board of County Supervisors individually. The suit alleges they violated Virginia’s open meetings law in 2020, in the hours following riots near Manassas, promoted by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Board Chair At-large Ann Wheeler, Margaret Franklin (Woodbridge), Andrea Bailey (Potomac), Victor Angry (Neabsco), and Kenny Boddye (Occoquan) are the named defendants. The hearing before the state’s high court comes on the same day hundreds are expected to attend a Board of County Supervisors meeting where leaders will decide whether or not to approve the Prince William Digital Gateway, the largest land-use case in county history.
Glass and Fox allege Democrats on the Board of County Supervisors held an illegal meeting at 1 p.m., May 30, 2020, less than 24 hours after rioters injured police officers, smashed businesses, and blocked a portion of Sudley Road and Sudley Manor roads near Manassas. Police used tear gas to force rioters to back down.
The Democratic supervisors attended the impromptu meeting at the James J. McCoart County Government Center in Woodbridge, a gathering of the county police Citizen Advisory Board led by Rev. Cozy Bailey, husband of defendant and supervisor Andrea Bailey, to discuss the riots.
Three Republicans on the Board of County Supervisors, including Peter Candland, who represents the area where the riots occurred, were not notified about the meeting. Furthermore, the meeting had not been duly advertised to the public. State law requires the localities to issue public notices when three or more elected officials plan to gather in the event official business is discussed.
This is an important hearing as, win or lose, this case will set a judicial precedent in Virginia dealing with open public meeting laws. We are confident the Supreme Court will side with the citizens: that five government officials with the Prince William County Board of Supervisors … held an illegal meeting when they met collectively with protesters and county police officials where they set county police policy on riot control but failed to inform the public and three other members of the board,” Gloss stated in an email to Potomac Local News.<
The Prince William County Supervisors in the suit did not respond to requests for comment for this story. According to county spokeswoman Rachel Johnson, the Supervisors have racked up $132,200 in legal fees, which are being paid for by county taxpayers through the local government’s self-insurance group, which generally covers the lawsuits brought against the county from everything from car crashes to the case against the Supervisors.
The Board of County Supervisors never voted to approve the expenditure. County Attorney Michele Robl will not represent the Supervisors.
Usually, the legal defense for the lawsuits covered by self-insurance is handled in-house by the County Attorney’s Office; however, there are situations when outside counsel defends the County due to specialized areas of expertise or conflict issues. In this situation, a lawsuit was brought against some members of the Board of County Supervisors for alleged actions occurring within their official capacity. As there is a conflict among the Board with regard to this matter, the County Attorney’s Office is conflicted out of representing the named Board members,” said Johnson.
Patrick McSweeney, an attorney for Gloss and Fox, filed an appeal to the Supreme Court in June 2021, following an earlier decision by retired Fairfax County Circuit Court Judge Dennis J. Smith to strike evidence presented by McSweeney in the case and not to force the defendants to pay Gloss and Fox’s legal fees, as requested.
An attempt by the county to recoup $90,000 of its legal fees was also denied. According to McSweeney, the court could hear the case later this summer or fall.
On October 8, 2020, Judge Smith was called to Prince William County to hear Gloss and Fox’s case against the supervisors and tossed it out. All Prince William County Circuit Court judges recused themselves from hearing arguments that day.
According to court documents, McSweeney argues Smith was wrong to strike the case evidence “based on the mistaken construction of the language…defining the term ‘meeting.”
Court documents state Wheeler requested the meeting and allege the county’s arguments — the meeting was not held to transact public business, and the meeting was solely held to inform the public — are not valid.
The county contends it was not an official meeting and that no official business was discussed. Three hours after the impromptu session, Wheeler called an emergency meeting of the Board of County Supervisors to discuss the riots.
The riots marked the first time in the county police department’s 50-year-history authorities declared an “unlawful assembly” in Prince William. Help from other police agencies, including Virginia State Police, Fairfax County Police, and officers from Manassas, were called to help Prince William County officers keep the peace.
On May 30, 2020, riots broke out again at Liberia Avenue and Signal Hill Road in Manassas, about five miles from where rioters had taken to the streets the night before. Several businesses were smashed, and a Walmart was looted.
Live audio of the hearing will be streamed online.
