The California Newspaper Publishers Association (CNPA) is claiming that the St. Helena City Council violated the Brown Act, California’s open meeting act, when a town administrator sent a memo to council members of instructions to its Housing Subcommittee. In a series of e-mails, council members suggested changes to the instructions and approved them.
Jesse Duarte in the St. Helena Star quoted Jim Ewert of the CNPA, “This is exactly the kind of back-room discussion that the Brown Act was intended to prohibit when it was drafted. This was the kind of conduct that was in the crosshairs of the legislature.” -db
From the St. Helena Star, April 21, 2011, by Jesse Duarte.