Del Mar: Parents want school board to fulfill campaign promises for open government and full transparency

Four parents have criticized the Del Mar Unified School District Board of Trustees for not allowing the community a reasonable opportunity to weigh in on the selection of a new superintendent. They say that bending the state’s open meeting law, the Brown Act, is not responsible leadership. -db Del Mar Times May 26, 2010 By [...]

Open government a campaign issue in California county

Candidates in Tulare County supervisor districts 4 and 5 are weighing in on open government as citizens have been questioning whether supervisors’ actions adhere to the spirit and letter of the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law. -db Visalia Times-Delta June 3, 2010 By David Y. Castellon The state’s open government laws are a [...]

New study questions premise that government secrecy promotes better decision-making

A new report challenges the view that government deliberations must be private to achieve candor. The authors of the report say that secrecy actually discourages dissenters from voicing their concerns. -db Secrecy News May 20, 2010 By Steven Aftergood When the Supreme Court ordered the Nixon White House to comply with a subpoena for the [...]

Amador County: Flury of e-mails leads to allegations of open meeting violation

When a director of the Amador Water Agency requested an item be added to a meeting agenda, a flury of e-mails ensued leading a fellow director to charge that the e-mails constituted a “serial meeting,” illegal under the state’s open meetings laws. -db Ledger Dispatch May 21, 2010 By Matthew Hedger Tempers flared at a [...]

Schwarzenegger wants to halt reimbursement to local governments for open government costs

Unable to pay the last $300,000 in a $20 million reimbursement to local governments for the costs of posting agendas and providing copies of documents, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing in his budget that the state no longer require local governments to inform the public but still hold them to providing public access to documents [...]

Taft City Council under fire for alleged violation of open meeting act

A Grand Jury report says that a letter by a three person majority of the Taft City Council to one of their fellow councilmen asking him to refrain from commenting publicly about harassment charges against two councilmen could violate the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law. -db The Taft Independent May 19, 2010 The Kern [...]

San Jose City College community questions whether Board of Trustees violated state’s open meeting law

Concerned citizens in the City College community questioned whether the San Jose City College Board of Trustees allowed the public a chance to give their input on a salary increase hastily passed in an emergency meeting that some say was not announced 72 hours in advance -db City College Times Commentary May 12, 2010 By [...]

Los Angeles County: Resident files suit claiming millions spent illegally

A citizen of Los Angeles County filed a civil lawsuit claiming that county supervisors spent millions on projects without properly discussing the expenditures in public meeting. -db Los Angeles Times May 11, 2010 By Garrett Therolf A Long Beach resident has filed a civil lawsuit alleging that county supervisors broke the law when they spent [...]

California: Journalist arrested for attempting to videotape public meeting on marine life protection

A Fish and Game warden arrested a journalist for videotaping a meeting of a state agency created to protect the ocean from pollution and development.  -db North Coast April 25, 2010 By John Lewallen Independent video journalist David Gurney has a powerful sense of duty: to create a video record of the Marine Life Protection [...]

L.A. City Council watchdog alleges electricity rates boosted without legal notice

A Los Angeles citizen has claimed that the city council passed electricity rate hikes without 72 hours notice required under the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law. -db LA Weekly April 23, 2010 By Dennis Romero ​Longtime City Council gadfly Joyce Dillard has sent letters to council president Eric Garcetti and City Attorney Carmen Trutanich [...]

Berkeley city council faces test on Sunshine Ordinance

A concerned Berkeley resident writes that the meeting this week on the city’s plan for Bus Rapid Transit should be held at a venue that accommodates the throngs that intend to show up to express their opinions on the plan. -db The Berkeley Daily Planet Commentary April 15, 2010 By Dean Metzger The city council has [...]

Open meeting controversies trouble two Orange County city councils

The Newport Beach City Council is holding a second hearing about a park access road following a claim that an earlier vote was taken without public disclosure of key documents. The Costa Mesa City Council denied that forming a subcommittee on the purchase of fairgrounds in closed session was a violation of the Brown Act. -db [...]

Santa Ana mayor pro tem accused of violating Califrornia’s open meetings law

A writer for TheLiberalOC.com criticizes the Santa Ana mayor pro tem for not affording all citizens equal treatment during the public comment segment of the council meetings. -db TheLiberalOC.com Opinion April 13, 2010 By Chris Prevatt At the April 5, 2010 meeting of the Santa Ana City Council, Mayor Miguel Pulido missed the meeting. The [...]

Tulare County: Newspaper and association join in lawsuit to stop county supervisors’ lunch meetings

To ensure that the Tulare County Board of Supervisors complies with California’s open meeting law, the local newspaper and the California Newspaper Pulbishers Association are joining a lawsuit to block the board from holding regular closed lunch meetings paid by the taxpayers and often attended by a board quorum. -db Visalia Times-Delta/Tulare Advance-Register April 12, [...]

Central Valley: Open meeting violations prompt successful recall petition drive

Citizens for Better City Government have collected over 1,000 signatures in the first step to recall three Hughson City Council members. The Civil Grand Jury had found the three in violation of the Brown Act, California’s open meetings law. -db The Turlock Journal March 30, 2010 By Maegan Martens Three months after the Civil Grand [...]

Tulare County: Supervisors missing the point in efforts to justify private lunch meetings

A Visalia Times-Delta  editorial argues that the Tulare County supervisors are violating the state’s open meeting law by convening as often as three times a week for lunch not open to the public. The supervisors are writing a policy to justify the practice which they claim is for the purpose of team building rather than [...]

Calaveras County: Citizens claim open meeting violation in silencing speaker

Residents of Calaveras County are rising to the defense of a fellow citizen whom the Board of Supervisors shut down while he was delivering a diatribe against a supervisor. They say the state’s open government law does not permit shutting down speakers just for critical comments. -db Calaveras Enterprise March 25, 2010 By Claudette Langley A [...]

Capistrano schools held in violation of California’s open meeting laws

A superior court judge ruled that the Capistrano Unified School District violated the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law, in not properly preparing the agenda on a closed door meeting on a personnel matter. In recent years the board had been reprimanded five times for violating the Brown Act, and a board with all [...]

Atherton: Open government advocate persists in suit after rebuff by district attorney

An open government advocate is suing the Sequoia Union High School District to force them to decide on a personnel policy item in open meeting. The local district attorney sided with the school district in holding that  the vote behind closed doors was legal. -db The Almanac March 17, 2010 By Dave Boyce The district [...]

Tulare County: Supervisors challenged in court test on open government compliance

An open government advocate is suing the Tulare County Board of Supervisors to prevent them from holding luncheons with a voting majority present. -db Visalia Times-Delta March 12, 2010 By Valerie Gibbons An open-meeting watchdog has filed a lawsuit against the Tulare County Board of Supervisors in an effort to end supervisors’ practice of sharing [...]

Bay Area transit district to webcast its board meetings

The Bay Area Rapid Transit voted to post its board meetings live on the web. The decision was made after criticism that the district was not responsive to the community following a BART policeman’s fatal shooting of an unarmed passenger. -db San Jose Mercury News March 12, 2010 By Denis Cuff More than a year [...]

Transparency: S.F. mayor wants texting banned during city meetings

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom wants a ban on text messaging during meetings of the Board of Supervisors and city commissions to limit the influence of  lobbyists texting city officials and to keep the city government more transparent. -db San Francisco Chronicle March 10, 2010 By Heather Knight San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom wants to [...]

Editorial calls for Placer County District Attorney to enforce state’s open government law

The Auburn Journal argued for tighter enforcement of the Brown Act, California’s open government law, in light of a $l600 dinner meeting in 2008  in Washington D.C. during which three county supervisors lobbied the local congressman. -db Auburn Journal Editorial March 7, 2010 During these tough economic times, government at every level faces media scrutiny. [...]

Health board claims secret meeting violated no laws

The Del Puerto Health Care District board met once secretly in 2008 but claims the meeting violated no California open govenment laws. -db Patterson Irrigator February 25, 2010 By Kendall Wright A majority of the Del Puerto Health Care District met once secretly in 2008, but the head of the district claims the meeting violated [...]

San Diego county school board cancels meeting to comply with open meeting law

The Grossmont Union High School District cancelled a special meeting to consider a threatened lawsuit after the media were not given adequate notice of the meeting. -db East County Magazine February 23, 2010 CAJON, Calif. – In response to a request by East County Magazine, the Grossmont Union High School District has announced cancellation of [...]

San Diego planning task force accused of violating California’s open government law

Community members involved in planning for San Diego have expressed concerns about an advisory committee with a large representation of builders and developers. They claim the committee’s meetings were not adequately publicized. -db San Diego Uptown News February 20, 2010 By David Harvey At the San Diego City Council’s Land Use and Housing (LU&H) committee [...]

Local education activist sues Alameda unified schools

The founder of Alameda Concerned Parents is suing the Alameda Unified School District for violations of the state’s open government law, the Brown Act. -db San Francisco Chronicle Opinion February 18, 2010 By Susan Davis This just in — Kerry Cook, founder of Alameda Concerned Parents, which protested Lesson 9 last spring and fall — [...]

Open meetings a work in progress in Victorville

An open government activist says there are still gross violations of the state’s open government law, the Brown Act, after the City Council had taken steps to conduct business in a more open manner. -db Victorville Daily Press February 15, 2010 By Brooke Edwards VICTORVILLE, Calif. – After continued rumblings from citizens and the Daily Press [...]

Counselor sues Yuba college district over closed door session concerning salary hike

A counselor at the Yuba Community College District is suing the district for rescinding her salary raise in closed session. The superior court judge has allowed Yuba college officials to testify in a closed court session. db Appeal-Democrat February 18, 2010 By Ryan McCarthy Three Yuba Community College District trustees are among witnesses an employee [...]

Carson mayor under investigation after allegations he used mute button to stifle public comment

The District Attorney is investigating a possible Brown Act violation as the Carson mayor has reportedly used a mute button to silence speakers at city council meetings. In November the City Council had given the major the authority to used the button in a 3-2 vote. -db KPCC Southern California Public Radio February 6, 2010 [...]

Amador County: Water agency accused of open meeting violations

A citizens group is calling for an investigation of the Amador Water Agency board for possible Brown Act violations when they held private conferences on board elections. -db Ledger Dispatch February 5, 2010 By Matthew Hedger A local citizens group is asking the Amador Water Agency to seek legal counsel and investigate whether some directors violated [...]

Tulare County: County supervisors’ dinners out may have also violated open meeting law

Records requested under the California Public Records Act show that the five supervisors plus the county administrative officer are running up excessive expense accounts and indicated that the supervisors may have violated California’s open meeting law, the Brown Act, by dining often with a voting majority. -db Visalia Times-Delta Tulare Advance-Register Editorial February 4, 2010

Yuba City: Action by community college trustees provokes dispute over open meeting violation

Some contend that a pay raise for the Yuba Community College district chancellor was made without observing California’s Brown Act. Today’s special meeting to reconsider the raise should remedy the problem. -db Appeal-Democrat February 3, 2010 By Ryan McCarthy A special meeting today for trustees to consider rescinding the pay raise for Nicki Harrington, chancellor [...]

Yuba City: Questions arise about possible open government violation in proposed raise for community college chancellor

The Yuba Community College District board may have violated California’s Brown Act which requires the board to hold discussions about salary increases in open session. -DB Daily Democrat Commentary January 28, 2010 By Erin Tracy A decision to approve a salary hike for the Yuba Community College District chancellor might be considered insult to injury for [...]

Pleasant Hill: Citizens allege open government violations in approval of drug rehab center

A citizens group has challenged the Pleasant Hill City Council after they approved a drug rehabilitation center this week, alleging that the city restricted public comment at a crucial Planning Commission meeting and provided improper notice of a subsequent hearing. -DB Contra Costa Times January 26, 2010 By Lisa P. White PLEASANT HILL, Calif. — [...]

California governor’s lunch could violate open meeting laws

Open government analysts say that if California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger hosts California legislators to a lunch after his State of the State address and does not admit the public and reporters, the meeting will violate the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law. -DB Bay News 9 January 6, 2010 By Juliet Williams and Judy [...]

D.A. investigates alleged open government violation in Montebello

The Montebello City Council may have violated the Brown Act, California’s open government law, when they allegedly discouraged public participation leading up to a November 16 city council meeting. -DB San Gabriel Valley Tribune December 17, 2009 By Thomas Himes MONTEBELLO, Calif. – The District Attorney’s Office is investigating allegations that a special meeting of [...]

Eastern California: Charged with violating open government law, supervisors dump closed door subcommittee

To avoid charges of violating the Brown Act, the Inyo County Board of Supervisors voted to shut down the Klondike Lake Subcommitee whose meeting have been closed to the public. -DB Sierra Wave November 24, 2009 By Benett Kessler The Inyo Supervisors got the Klondike Lake issue off their backs Tuesday, stating they didn’t want to [...]

Obama’s open government pledge flags as health-care bill talks go behind door

Despite promises by presidential candidate Barack Obama to pass legislation in open negotiations, the Senate is working behind closed doors to merge two competing versions of health-care legislation into one bill. -DB The Washington Post October 18, 2009 By Perry Bacon Jr. Three months before he was elected president, Barack Obama vowed not only to reform [...]

Governor signs FAC-sponsored access bill

With encouragement from the California First Amendment Coalition, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed SB 786 that limits the ability of state and local governmental agencies to win fee awards from citizens bringing lawsuits under the state’s open government laws -DB Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law SB 768 on August 6 a measure vital to maintaining the [...]

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