The city of Torrance said they erred in telling protesters of a local oil refinery they would be charged one dollar fee for each person participating in a rally and march. With an expected crowd of 500, that would have been a substantial charge. (Daily Breeze, February 14, 2018, by Nick Green)
The Half Moon Bay city council and staff are frustrated by the local sewage authority’s failure to provide them with vital information including reports on spillage and information about a sewage board directive to deprive “member agency managers” notice of catastrophes or incidents. The authority’s general manager was evasive about the directive. (Half Moon Bay Review, February 14, 2018, by Carina Woudenberg)
Citizens in South Lake Tahoe City complained about the lack of transparency over the city council’s placing the town manager on indefinite leave. The council did not report any action after a closed session so citizens do not know if the town manager requested leave or was forced out by the council. (Tahoe Daily Tribune, February 14, 2018, by Claire Cudahy)
The San Lorenzo Water District board held a special public meeting to address their director’s alleged violation of the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law. The director had been charged with discussing legal matters from a closed session with the Press Banner. (Press Banner, January 31, 2018, by Libby Leyden)
In an editorial, January 28, 2018, the Ukiah Daily Journal urged the city council and the local sanitary district to strike a blow for transparency by discussing a lawsuit in open sessions. It argued that the Brown Act allows for open discussion about the lawsuit that has already cost the taxpayers over $4 million.
The San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office told a harbor commissioner that the Brown Act was “not optional for public officials.” Commissioner Sabrina Brennan insisted in speaking up in a meeting of two members of the South San Francisco city council and two harbor commissioners. Brennan was the third commissioner in the room and said she had a right to speak as a member of the public, but the district attorney’s office said she would have put the commission in the position of violating the Brown Act by making the session an unannounced public meeting. (The Daily Post, January 20, 2018, by Emily Mibach)
A former Chino mayor alleged that a city council violated the Brown Act by holding private meetings with other council members over the rejected Chino Francis Estates project. (Champion Newspapers, January 20, 2018, by Erin Tobin)
After a June 3 meeting, the Sonoma City Council failed to adequately report a decision to stop transferring money from the Water Fund to the General Fund. The council only made an oral report after the closed session and failed to release the minutes until they submitted them with the December 18 agenda. (Sonoma Index-Tribune, January 15, 2018, by Christian Kallen)
A Martinez City Council member was thwarted in her attempt to participate by Skype in a January 10 meeting when Kapaa Shores suddenly closed down their hospitality room for renovation. She had listed the room as her location, and the Brown Act requires that each teleconference location be in the agenda and made accessible to the public. (East Bay Times, January 15, 2018, by San Richards)
Editor of the Idyllwild Town Crier Becky Clark, January 10, 2018, alleged that the water district board made two Brown Act violations in one meeting by allowing comments on items not on the agenda.