Although the November 30 Mayor and Council meeting was to be the last for the current Mayor and Council, a closed session meeting was hastily scheduled for 9:00 am today to “discuss the appointment, employment, assignment, promotion, discipline, demotion, compensation, removal, resignation, or performance evaluation of an employee over whom the Mayor and Council has jurisdiction.” That concerns only three employees: City Manager, City Attorney, or City Clerk. This must be incredibly serious because it couldn’t wait until the first meeting of the newly elected Mayor and Council on November 20. The Mayor and Council might receive a summary at the end of the meeting, but it may be through a news release later in the day. Mayor Newton has played her cards very close to the vest with closed sessions, even flaunting Maryland’s Open Meetings Act to keep information secret, so we may have to wait to learn what is happening. Let’s hope the new Mayor and Council will be more transparent and open about their decision-making.