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A&A: Accessing police Internal Affairs reports

FAC September 20, 2010

Q: I often work with women who have been abused by police officers, often sparking internal affairs investigations into the officer. We have never been able to get any info on the IA beyond “founded” or “unfounded.” I was just alerted to Cal Govt Code 6254.7, which seems to indicate the victim has a right to all witness statements, etc. This seems to good to be true. What’s the catch? A: Government Code Section 6254.7,

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A&A: Are emails sent to elected officials private or public?

FAC September 17, 2010

Q: Are e-mails sent by residents to the council or other government entities (GE) concerning a hot button issue considered public records? Or are they somehow protected by the ”right to privacy” and beyond public scrutiny? In this case, the GE itself asked residents to send the e-mails and is making policy decisions based on the e-mails. I guess it would seem there could be potential for abuse of the “system” if there were a

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A&A: Bundling agenda action items silences public input

FAC September 17, 2010

Q: I would like to question the legality of a new practice our school board school board to “bundle”  regular action items on the agenda. At the only regular board meeting of August 2010, after approving the consent calendar, the board approved the regular agenda items as presented. Their own by-laws state an agenda item will be presented; the administration will give their presentation and recommendations for action; the board will ask/seek further information; the

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FAC wins case against CalPERS for records on disastrous real estate investment

FAC September 16, 2010

The Superior Court in San Francisco ruled Tuesday in FAC’s favor against CalPERS regarding access to records on their PageMill real estate investment. According to the ruling (FAC v CalPERS Order), the Court agreed with FAC that Govt Code section 6254.26, the exemption for certain information related to “alternative investments,”  does NOT apply to real estate investments. The Court also rejected CalPERS’ arguments that the records were subject to exemption as “trade secrets” or on

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A&A: Is a quorum required for presentations?

FAC September 16, 2010

Q: There’s some confusion about whether the county Mental Health Board is violating the Brown Act by receiving information when it doesn’t have a quorum. Can the board have discussions and receive presentations, but not take formal action, when a quorum isn’t present? A: As you probably know, the Brown Act sets out certain requirements that the legislative body of a local agency must abide by in conducting meetings. The most important of these is

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