A Malibu civic group has filed a lawsuit alleging the Malibu City Council violated the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law. The city attorney had earlier reversed herself urging the council to rescind their vote on January 14 to negotiate an agreement for a swap of parklands which was followed by another vote reinstating the negotiations. (Malibu Surfside News, April 17, 2013, by Bill Koeneker)
The lawsuit claimed that substantial delibertion over the landswap occurred outside public purview, “This fact-finding and sharing with the three non-negotiating council members of La Monte’s and House’s positions in favor of the Parkland Swap occurred secretly, outside of any open council meeting, through the City Attorney acting as the intermediary or ‘hub’ and, therefore, violates the Brown Act’s open meeting requirement.” The civic group that calls themselves the Malibu Township Council (MTC) also said there were e-mails sent over the holidays about the swap that should have been part of the public record. (Malibu Patch, April 17, 2013, by Jessica Davis)
The MTC contended that the city council was secretly negotiating the land swap before the first discussion of the issue on January 14. (Malibu Times, April 12, 2013, by Melissa Caskey)