Personal attacks in public meetings
Q: In a closed session meeting, under The Brown Act, do the normal rules of order and decorum apply? We have a situation where some board members feel they can viciously and personally attack other members of the board with impunity. As this is a closed session, they feel that nothing can be done.
A: The only provision in the Brown Act concerning disorderly conduct is found in section 54957.9. This section permits a legislative body to exclude all persons who willfully cause a disruption of a meeting so that it cannot be conducted in an orderly fashion. Although this provision is typically applied in open meetings to exclude members of the public who are causing disruption of the meeting, it is not clear whether such provision can also be applied to exclude members of the governing board as well. Unfortunately, I was unable to find any cases or other authority interpreting this provision, and I am not aware of other California statutes that might apply to this situation. Please note also that organizational issues of this type may be governed by the internal rules of the governing body itself. You might want to ask the city council for a copy of its bylaws to see if they address the specific issue of decorum and order at closed sessions.