In a hastily called meeting Thursday, members of the Public Finance Authority spent two and half hours behind closed doors in executive session involving what they termed a “civil action.”
When the members invited waiting reporters back into the meeting, it was for an announcement from PFA secretary Debra Gottlieb, who said in her capacity as V.I. budget director, that the board had discussed “a proposed settlement in favor of the Public Finance Authority” but that it had taken no action.
Board members and PFA legal counsel James Hindels, who was at the meeting, declined to say whether an action has only been threatened or whether it has actually been filed in any court. They gave no details as to which side of the action PFA is on – defendant or plaintiff.
While some seemed to hint that a case may not actually have been filed yet, the section of the Sunshine Act under which they voted unanimously to go into executive session, pertains to matters in federal or local courts.
The only other business conducted at the meeting was the formal acceptance of meeting minutes from the October 3 and October 25, 2011 board meetings.
Notice of the meeting was sent to media outlets on Tuesday. The agenda was not distributed until shortly after the scheduled start of the meeting.
Angel Dawson, who is both executive director of the PFA and a board member, chaired the meeting. Besides Gottleib, two other members, Pablo O’Neill and Keith O’Neale Jr., also attended.
