Council to fill vacancy without public input

A sharply divided Lynchburg City Council decided last week that all parts of the selection process to fill a council vacancy — from vetting candidates to debating over the final pick — will be carried out behind closed doors. “Public scrutiny doesn’t equal bad,” said VCOG executive director Megan Rhyne. “The argument for not doing it is often that it might get messy. But politics and democracy can be messy. One of the reasons we have the system we do is so people can consider choices, discuss things and express preferences.”