A local journalist settled a California Public Records lawsuit with the City of Los Angeles to obtain head shots of police officers only to find himself the subject of a counter lawsuit claiming that providing the records was in error and that the photos included undercover officers. (Reason, April 30, 2024, by Arvind Dilawar)
The Ukiah city manager ended public discussion abut the fate of the landmark Palace Hotel, noting that the discussion was not on the town council agenda and could result in a violation of the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law. The public has been kept in the dark about plans for the hotel. (MendoFever, May 16, 2024, by Mike Geniella)
The San Francisco transit authority awarded a contract to the bicycle coalition to provide education and services to the public. At issue was the increase of the grant from $300,000 to $500,000 at the last minute without alerting the public 72 hours before the meeting. (El Tecolote, May 16, 2024, by Patricia Arack and Tomasita Medal)
A Tracy lawyer sued the city to contest the pay raise for the city attorney that he claimed was awarded in closed session in violation of the Brown Act. (Tracy Press, May 10, 2024, by Bob Browne)
San Bernardino residents are unhappy about the city’s plan to charge $75 for entrance to the State of the City event. FAC Legal Director David Loy said, “If there is a meeting of a legislative body as defined in the act, then that meeting is required to be open in public and the city cannot charge admission.” (KVCR/NPR, May 10, 2024, by Anthony Victoria)
Jim Shields in the Anderson Valley Advertiser, May 11, 2014, observes that a member of the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors erred in alleging a Brown Act violation. Writes Shields, “Board discussion or action regarding potential elimination of a position for budgetary reasons is not a ‘personnel’ issue as Mulheren alleges, and therefore cannot legally be handled in closed session under the Brown Act.”
Redding’s mayor and vice mayor are campaigning to remove Aaron Hatch from the Redding Planning Commission. Despite advice from the city attorney to not speak during a council meeting, Hatch nevertheless spoke. FAC’s David Loy said “…when the city holds a meeting under the Brown Act, it is obligated to hear from any member of the public on any item on the agenda. ‘Member of the public’ means what it says, it means anyone.” (Shasta Scout, May 3, 2024, by Annelise Pierce)
GV Wire is alleging the Fresno Unified School District may have violated the Brown Act in its closed door meeting on selecting a new superintendent. The board failed to inform the public of its decision to interview only internal candidates and then its shift back to consider external as well as internal ones. (GV Wire, April 26, 2024, by Nancy Price)
The Temecula Valley school board agreed to end their “penalty card system” in determining whether to eject a citizen from meetings and to not base ejections solely on a speaker’s view point. (mynews LA.com, April 16, 2024, by Contributing Editor)
An independent investigator found that Del Mar City Council member Dan Quirk allegedly violated the Brown Act by dispersing information to the public from a close session about bids on a city project and how the council voted. (The San Diego Union-Tribune, April 16, 2024, by Phil Diehl)
Community activist Laura Wilkinson Sinton alleged that the Port of San Diego violated the Brown Act by improperly notifying the public of a special meeting and not notifying a port city member that its appointed commissioner was censured. (The San Diego Union-Tribune, April 9, 2024, by Laura Wilkinson Sinton)
A Superior Court judge found that Hermosa Beach did not reveal confidential information in a November 2019 closed council session. (Daily Breeze, Alpril 5, 2024, by Lisa Jacobs)
The NCJ discovered that the Eureka City Schools had committed a number of possible violations of the Brown Act and the California Public Records Act including failing to release to the public documents that were to be discussed in open session. (North Coast Journal, April 2, 2024, by Thadeus Greenson)