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closed meetings

Los Angeles: Secret talks on fate of coliseum could foul up the deal

donal brown March 8, 2012

In holding closed meetings on a plan to turn  the publicly-owned Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum over to the University of Southern California, the coliseum commission runs the risk of incurring the wrath of the citizens and violating the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law. Open government experts say that they can legally close the meeting to discuss contracts and money but cannot forego soliciting public comment on other related issues as happened in this

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LA Times editorial criticizes supervisors for excessive closed door meetings

donal brown January 31, 2012

An editorial in the Los Angeles Times says the board of supervisors for Los Angeles County “displays its contempt for the public” by closing the door before discussing such vital issues as the shift of convicts from state facilities to the county. The Times argues that the mere wish to speak frankly does not allow a public agency to close its doors and the exemption cited for closing the door on the convict issue was

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California: Los Alamitos councilman in trouble for violating confidentiality of closed meetings

donal brown January 19, 2012

The Los Alamitos City Council voted 3-1 to prosecute Councilman Warren Kusumoto for an alleged violation of the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law. Kusumoto had disclosed that in closed-door discussions on a lawsuit against the city, he had a different viewpoint  from the council majority. The City Attorney said in that disclosure he had violated the rule against the confidentiality of closed meetings although Kusumoto’s views on the lawsuit were well known in

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California: Watchdog discovers serious open meeting violation by Visalia City Council

donal brown January 10, 2012

A Visalia resident discovered that without public hearing last October, the Visalia City Council approved a $50,000 expense account for its newly appointed Elections Task Force. The city claims it feared a lawsuit so was justified in acting in closed session, but no one was threatening to sue over the creation of the task force. -db From an editorial in the Visalia Times-Delta, January 9, 2012. Full  story  

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Tulare supervisor lunch lawsuit goes to California Supreme Court

donal brown January 10, 2012

The lawsuit over closed lunch meetings of the Tulare County Board of Supervisors is going to the California Supreme Court. The suit centered on 30 closed lunch meetings in 2009 during which at least a majority of the supervisors were present. The supervisors claimed they never discussed county business during the lunches. -db From the Visalia Times-Delta, January 10, 2012, written by Staff reports. Full story  

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