Asked & Answered

Q:  Is there any new case law on deliberative process privilege? I read on the website that in 2008 the CA court of appeals ruled Prop. 59 didn’t eliminate the deliberative process privilege. So, is the fact that the right to know is a constitutional right a dead argument? Can the privilege be claimed to prevent deposition of City Council members if it is believed their motivation was discrimination and retaliation? I hope there has

Q: Exactly what portion of personnel files are exempt from disclosure under the California Public Records Act? Specifically, I am trying to find out whether our child’s public school teacher — who was a probationary employee  resigned;  was terminated for cause, or  was “non-reelected” (no reason required per union contract). Our School District maintains that the vast majority of an teacher’s personnel file is non-public, with the exception of a very limited number of basic

Q: I asked the Police Department if a police officer was on administrative leave after being arrested for felony animal cruelty. They said he was still an employee, but wouldn’t say if he was on leave or not. Are they allowed to do that? A: It is unfortunate that the police department will not answer your very basic question relating to the status of its officer.  From a public relations perspective, it would seem that an

Q:  As a Business Improvement District, we are an agency of our local gov’t and subject to PRAs. I have submitted countless reports, minutes/agendas, financials and even a record of one full year of emails. Now I have been asked to submit the email database I have developed for communicating with my business members. I am not comfortable giving this database to the public. While I have no problem disclosing my email correspondence, I do not

Q: The state university where I worked has held confidential meetings of a management committee for a program operated under an agreement with the county. There was never an agenda, minutes, notices of meetings or officers. For the past four years. They threatened to fire me if anything at these meetings was divulged, and now they have eliminated my position. A: It is not clear whether California’s open meeting laws would apply to the situation you describe.  If