Los Angeles supervisors’ meeting on Capitol Hill said to violate California open meeting law

WASHINGTON, D.C. – /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Ten Capitol Hill meetings held on May 5th and 6th at the White House and in the offices of Senators Diane Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, and individual members of Congress with five members of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors have generated official complaints and formal requests for investigation of violations of the California open meeting law known as the “Brown Act” (Gov’t Code Section 54950 et seq.)

Complaints filed by the Full Disclosure Network® (FDN) with the office of California Attorney General Jerry Brown and L.A. County District Attorney Steve Cooley both of whom are charged with investigating violations and enforcement of the Brown Act. The law prohibits a majority of members of a governing body from meeting in private and requires public notice to be posted of the date, time, place and agenda of the meetings 72 hours prior (including cancellations.) Read the complaint here: http://blog.fulldisclosure.net/2010/06/da-asked-to-investigate-brown-act.html

The FDN submitted, along with their complaint, a DVD with video coverage where their three member camera crew and reporterJ anet Levy were ejected from one official meeting. In another meeting with Senator Barbara Boxer, the camera crew was excluded, but Ms. Levy was allowed into the room. Although she is a citizen of Los Angeles County, Ms. Levy was not permitted to speak at the meeting as required by the open meeting law. A ten minute video report can be viewed here: http://www.fulldisclosure.net/Programs/567.php

Of the ten meetings held, FDN was excluded from covering five Congressional meetings and the White House meeting . Video footage of the entire two-day encounter is included in two-part series to be featured on community cable channels throughout California as well as on the Internet. The series accurately reflects the deliberate actions taken to exclude the public and the media. The Full Disclosure video details what transpired when reporter Janet Levy, a Los Angeles County resident and freelance reporter attempted to attend and cover the L.A. County Board of Supervisors official meetings with a three man camera crew.

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