A Visalia resident discovered that without public hearing last October, the Visalia City Council approved a $50,000 expense account for its newly appointed Elections Task Force. The city claims it feared a lawsuit so was justified in acting in closed session, but no one was threatening to sue over the creation of the task force. [...]
The lawsuit over closed lunch meetings of the Tulare County Board of Supervisors is going to the California Supreme Court. The suit centered on 30 closed lunch meetings in 2009 during which at least a majority of the supervisors were present. The supervisors claimed they never discussed county business during the lunches. -db From the [...]
A state appeals court upheld a lower court ruling that the City of Montebello did not violate the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law, in approving a $3.2 million real estate agreement with a businessman. The Montebello redevelopment agency approved the deal in a closed meeting preceding a public session. -db From the Metropolitan [...]
The increasing numbers of closed door sessions conducted by the Stockton City Council has prompted open government advocates to protest the practice. Under a threat of bankruptcy, the council has met in closed meetings three times for every two open meetings. The council may meet in closed session to discuss certain financial matters, but in [...]
A county judge ruled that four members of the Dunsmuir City Council must defend itself against allegations that they violated the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law. A citizen sued the council for alleged conflict of interest and holding meetings without public participation. -db From the Record Searchlight, January 2, 2012, by Sean Longoria. [...]
Under amendments to the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law, government agencies are now required to disclose more details about items under consideration at meetings. The amendments will go into effect, January 1 of 2012. The amendments also require agencies to provide notice in writing to the media of special meetings and notice by telephone [...]
An ex-school board member alleged that the Galt Joint Union Elementary School District board violated the Brown Act, California’s open meeting act by not allowing public comments while conducting public interviews to fill a vacant seat on the board. The board has agreed to repeat the meeting to satisfy the Brown Act. -db From the [...]
In a special meeting called to discuss a draft of the general plan, a member of the city council spoke on an item not on the agenda, a possible violation of the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law. A council member said the council did not violate the law in that members were allowed [...]
The Pasadena City Council may have blundered when they met recently to discuss job cuts in the face of budget problems. The meeting agenda was posted at 9 p.m. on a Sunday and the meeting began at 8:30 a.m. the next day. A full 24 hour meeting notice is required by the Brown Act, the [...]
Jim Ewert of the California Newspaper Publisher Association said that the Patterson City Council violated the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting act, when it failed to provide the identity of those who voted in a closed session for an interim city attorney. Ewert said it did not matter that the rankings of candidates occurred [...]
Without comment a California appeals court reversed an order that the Times-Delta/Advance-Register and allies pay legal costs for Tulare County in a Brown Act suit. The newspaper and others had charged that the Tulare County Board of Supervisors violated the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law, by conducting a series of lunch meetings closed [...]
An expert in open government law challenged the Barstow School Board contention that they had not violated the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law, in failing to report a vote out of closed session. The school board was considering the resignation of the school superintendent. -db From the Desert Dispatch, November 21, 2011. by [...]
C-SPAN wants the U.S. Supreme Court to break tradition and allow live television coverage of the oral arguments next March on the constitutionality of the federal health care law. C-SPAN cited the importance of the hearings to the presidential and congressional elections. -db From SCOTUSBlog, November 15, 2011, by Lyle Denniston. Full story
The webcast of the House Judiciary Committee’s hearing on the Stop Online Piracy Act or SOPA was of such poor quality that the Internet community was effectively shut out until the question and answer period. The community is also concerned that the committee is only asking one representative of the technology sector to testify. -db [...]
Local governments are allowed to conduct public business behind closed doors to discuss a limited range of issues. Carolyn Schuk provides a primer on the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law, in the Santa Clara Weekly. -db From a commentary in the Santa Clara Weekly, November 17, 2011, by Carolyn Schuk. Full story
After losing bid to show the Tulare County Board of Supervisors violated open-meetings law by holding closed lunch meetings, the plaintiffs are asking the California 5th District Court of Appeals to reconsider their ruling. The Court ordered the plantiffs to pay legal costs in ruling the issue moot since the supervisors no longer conducted lunch [...]
A California appeals court reversed a lower court ruling, holding that a private citizen could enforce a contract calling for open board meetings by corporations receiving government funds. “We believe that the purpose of the provisions requiring compliance with the Brown Act was to ensure that meetings…relating to publicly funded programs would be open to [...]
The presiding judge of the Los Angeles Juvenile Court plans to open court hearings to the public by the end of the month in an attempt to bolster public confidence by improving accountability and transparency. The court deals with child abuse and neglect and foster care placement. Many social workers oppose the plan out of [...]
The Orange County Sanitation District admitted to violating the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law, when it voted on pay raises for 17 managers and 18 “confidential” workers behind closed doors. They will conduct a revote. Because the workers are not represented by a bargaining group, the public has the right to discuss the [...]
The 5th District Court of Appeals dismissed an open government suit by an open government advocate challenging closed lunch meetings held for morale-building purposes by the Tulare County Board of Supervisors. The court said that there was no relief since the supervisors had stopped holding the meetings alleged to be violations of the state’s open [...]
A Delaware open government coalition sued in federal court over a 2009 state law that gives the Chancery Court license to arbitrate business disputes between consenting parties. The Chancery Court set up procedures that make the hearings confidential and not part of the public record. The coalition wants the court to declare the law and [...]
With two vacancies on the five-member board, the Palm Drive Hospital board is facing allegations that it violated California’s open meeting laws in meetings involving two directors. Seventy-two hour notice was not provided for meetings to review proposals to join with other hospitals. -db From The Santa Rosa Press Democrat, October 20, 201, by Bob [...]
Citzens backing a plan to widen Highway 1 in Pacifica allege the planning commission violated Brown Act by voting on the issue when it was not on the agenda. The planning commission voted to ask Caltrans to extend the public comment period for the environmental impact report beyond October 22 when it expires. -db From [...]
The Friends of Friday Night Football filed a lawsuit against the Palos Verdes Peninsula United School District claiming the district violated the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law, when they abruptly voted to shut down a project to provide stadium lights. The advocates of stadium lights had raised money from the project and proceeded [...]
The San Mateo District Attorney’s Office is investigating an alleged violation of the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law after, without it being posted on the agenda, the Pacific Planning Commission took up Caltrans’ plan to widen Highway 1. -db From the Pacifica Patch, October 5, 2011, by Camden Swita. Full story
Baylor University President and former Solicitor General Kenneth Starr writes that there are lots of good reasons to improve public access to the deliberations over vital issues by the U.S. Supreme Court. Starr notes that the current court has ruled emphatically for the First Amendment but is loathe to allow the public easy access to [...]
An editorial in the Los Angeles Times argues there few reasonable justifications for the Los Angeles County supervisors to hold discussions with Gov. Jerry Brown behind closed doors on the impending shift of inmates and parolees to local control. In discussing policy concerning the shift, the supervisors claimed they had to meet privately to confer [...]
With San Luis Obispo County judges awarding themselves over $235,000 in annual benefits, the California Attorney General is considering whether the Commission on Judicial Performance can bring sanctions against them. With control over the budget, the judges began giving themselves extra benefits without complying with state regulations regarding compensation from public funds and with the [...]
A former City Council candidate has filed a complaint with the San Bernardino County District Attorney alleging that the council had committed two open meeting violations. The first was not reporting an action taken during a closed session and the second concerned a resolution to create a supplemental retirement plan. -db From the Inland Valley [...]
The Tri-City Healthcare District board has been accused of violating the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law, by holding a closed door session on strategic directions for the district before convening again in closed session to evaluate the performance of their CEO. Critics said the session on setting strategic directions should have been on an [...]
After a preliminary finding in May that the Capistrano Unified School District violated the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law, the Orange County District Attorney’s office announced this week that they could not corroborate the finding. But the office found a lot to fault, using colorful language to criticize the way the district conducted meetings. [...]
An editorial in the Beaumont Texas Enterprise argues that the Congressional supercommittee to find $1.5 trillion to cut from the federal budget should conduct its deliberations in public. Some legislators and sponsoring a bill requiring the committee to hold open hearings and disclose any contacts members of the committee make with lobbyists. That latter requirement [...]
A group of Senate Republicans wants the Congressional supercommittee formed to make $1.5 trillion in cuts to the budget open to the public. The Republicans not only favor admitting the press and public but also live streaming of the proceedings. In its first meeting, the subcommittee voted to allow some closed meetings but pledged to [...]
With local authorities hamstrung by conflict of interest and lack of resources, California’s state attorney general office may step up to investigate alleged open meeting violations by the Willows City Council during a June 14 closed meeting. The council has been accused of discussing items not on the agenda and the budget in a closed [...]
Q: Our county budget committee meets behind closed doors and keeps no written records of meetings. County staff says it’s OK because the budget committee is an ad hoc committee. They say they can designate ANY committee as an ad hoc committee and meet behind closed doors. A: Government Code section 54952(b) contains the definition [...]
The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the Orange County Board of Supervisors for their policies regulating controversial commentary at their public meetings. The suit came after the supervisors cut off a speaker who in their opinion had wrongly criticized Vietnamese immigrants. -db For the Voice of OC, September 9, 2011, by Tracy Wood. Full [...]
The Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office informed backers of the outgoing Santa Barbara City College president that the college Board of Trustees had not violated the Brown Act, California’s open meetings law, by not disclosing the outcome of Superintendent-President Andreea Serban’s evaluation. The backers of the former president are seeking to recall three of the [...]
Q: At a recent Planning Commission public hearing, we were told in the agenda and online that we would be given up to three minutes to speak. Right before public comments were heard, the chair said we’d be given only two minutes without any explanation. It says in the agenda he can change the time [...]
California’s Attorney General Kamala Harris demonstrated the long reach of the state’s open meeting law, the Brown Act, in her opinion that for majority of a Southern California city council to take an invitation-only tour of a Northern California water district facility would be a violation of the law. Harris also said that even if [...]
The Marin County district attorney told the Novato City Council they had to remedy an alleged open meeting violation by holding a repeat of its review of an affordable housing project. The new meeting was held August 23. California’s Brown Act, the open meeting law, requires public agencies to post their agendas at least 72 [...]
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