A Los Angeles Times editorial criticizes another attempt to pass a law, AB 246 in this case, to allow circumvention of California’s Brown Act, its open meeting law. These attempts came after the Los Angeles County district attorney decided that the county board of supervisors violated the open meeting law by meeting with Governor Jerry Brown behind close doors to discuss how to transfer non-violent convicts from state to county prisons. (Los Angeles Times, June 10, 2013)
Attorneys for the Los Angeles County Board of supervisors defended the new bill with the argument that shifting the convicts would pose a threat to the public. But an editorial in the Pasadena Star-News, June 9, 2013, states, “Now, it’s true that scads of police chiefs and county sheriffs up and down the state consider realignment to be a threat to public safety. But it’s hard to see how discussing an administrative plan that will have an effect on public safety needs to be secreted from the public. Is there danger in the public knowing what its elected public officials are saying about public safety? Politically, to the officials, perhaps.”
This attempt to weaken the Brown Act is but one of many in the 60 years since the act was passed. State legislators exempted themselves from the Brown Act and also the Public Records Act and in 1971 amended the Brown Act to allow closed sessions to discuss risks to public services with security officials or contractors. This amendment opened the door for AB 246. (Capitol Weekly, June 11, 2013, by Samantha Gallegos) -db