Fayetteville City Council voted on Tuesday, July 21, to adopt an ordinance that restricts the nondisclosure agreements that city employees can enter into. The city of Fayetteville is working to promote transparency and public trust when doing business.

Ordinance Details

The ordinance passed in a 4-2 vote with two amendments. City employees may only enter into nondisclosure agreements once they’ve received written approval from the mayor and city attorney. Before an NDA is approved, the mayor and city attorney will review the agreement to ensure it doesn’t violate any local or state laws and that it is in the best interest of the public.

A Fayetteville resident who spoke out at the meeting said despite these changes, she sees this as progress toward full transparency. Confidentiality during negotiations doesn’t have to mean silence forever, she said. We have a right to know what’s done in our name. NDAs can touch our water, our roads, our health, our safety, our tax dollars. Those are public matters. And public matters have been public business for a generation.

Council Reaction

However, councilwoman Sarah Moore, who drafted the original ordinance, said she wants to see a stricter ban on NDAs. I stand by that original ordinance that I don’t see that the presence of a dedicated economic development person justifies the fact that the non-disclosure agreements would take place where there are public employees responsible to serving the public interest and not shielding the governmental actions from public scrutiny, Moore said.

At Tuesday’s meeting, councilwoman Teresa Turk mentioned NDA issues the city has had with defense drone company Swarm Aero, which opened a facility in Fayetteville earlier this year. In a heated town hall in May, community members called for more transparency from the company, raising concerns about NDAs signed by some city leaders.

Original reporting: 40/29 / KHBS (NW Arkansas) — read the source article.