A local open meeting watchdog, Peter Carpenter, accused the Menlo Park School District of violating California’s open meeting law, the Brown Act, when it used secret ballots to rank candidates for the superintendent’s job. Carpenter demanded that the district nullify its choice of superintendent and allow the public to discuss its short list of candidates.
The district denied violating the Brown Act and said that Carpenter had misread the act. In ranking candidates, the trustees did not “take action” which is forbidden under the act. The district said the public had ample opportunity to provide input on what they wanted in a superintendent. -db
From the San Jose Mercury News, May 12, 2011, by Diana Samuels.