LA Times editorial criticizes supervisors for excessive closed door meetings

An editorial in the Los Angeles Times says the board of supervisors for Los Angeles County “displays its contempt for the public” by closing the door before discussing such vital issues as the shift of convicts from state facilities to the county. The Times argues that the mere wish to speak frankly does not allow [...]

California: Los Alamitos councilman in trouble for violating confidentiality of closed meetings

The Los Alamitos City Council voted 3-1 to prosecute Councilman Warren Kusumoto for an alleged violation of the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law. Kusumoto had disclosed that in closed-door discussions on a lawsuit against the city, he had a different viewpoint  from the council majority. The City Attorney said in that disclosure he [...]

California: San Mateo college board on shaky ground in involvement in campaign for bond measure

According to one former county counsel, it is legal for school board members to participate in campaigns for bond measures so long as public funds are not involved, but questions arose when all trustees for the San Mateo County Community College District served on a committee that met in private to plan a bond measure [...]

California: Watchdog discovers serious open meeting violation by Visalia City Council

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. [...]

Tulare supervisor lunch lawsuit goes to California Supreme Court

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 [...]

California: State appeals court scuttles Brown Act challenge in Montebello

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 [...]

Open meetings: City council barred from taking private tour of water facility

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 [...]

California: Developers in La Jolla sue over alleged open meeting violations

Developers of a controversial three-story project in La Jolla are suing the La Jolla Community Planning Association (LJCPA), a nonprofit advisory group for the city of San Diego, for violating the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law. The suit brought by Bob and Kim Whitney claims the LJCPA deliberated and voted in private over the [...]

California’s peripheral canal: Government officials holding closed meetings on funding

Despite assurances by Governor Jerry Brown’s administration that all processes relating to the Bay Delta Conservation Plan would be transparent, it has surfaced that local water agencies are holding closed door meetings with state and federal officials to  create a finance plan for construction of the peripheral canal. Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the [...]

Tulare County supervisors likely to evade suit on alleged open meeting violations

A superior court judge indicated she would dismiss an open meeting lawsuit against the Tulare County Board of Supervisors from lack of solid evidence. The supervisors were alleged to have violated California’s Brown Act by meeting regularly for lunch, they claimed, to build team solidarity. -db Visalia Times-Delta August 21, 2010 By Valerie Gibbons A [...]

Tulare: Suit brought over alleged violations of open meeting and public records laws

Eight Tulare citizens filed suit over actions by the city council who met twice in closed session to discuss the city manager’s complaints against a councilman. The lawsuit holds among other things that the closed session did not meet conditions of the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law, for holding a closed session. -db Tulare [...]

News organizations want open hearings over West Virginia mine deaths

Eight news organizations and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has asked the Mine Safety and Health Administration to conduct open hearings about the mne disaster that killed 25 miners in early this month. -db Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press Press Release April 27, 2010 The Reporters Committee for Freedom of [...]

Southern California: Long running ad hoc committees trample open government

With 14 ad hoc committees, one four years old, the Highland City Council is needlessly conducting vast amounts of the people’s business behind closed doors, says an editorial in the Highland Community News. -DB Highland Community News Editorial December 17, 2009 Ad hoc committees can serve a very useful purpose. Operating out of public view, they [...]