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closed sessions

A&A: School board keeping exorbitant attorney fees in closed session

FAC November 29, 2011

Q: As a school board member I have tried, but failed, to have the copious exorbitant legal billings by the district’s attorney released to the public.  So far the attorney’s fees of $50k to $70k per month (the amount of almost $1million is rapidly approaching) have been discussed in closed session and the rest of the board members what to keep it that way . I consider the attorney just like any other a vendor and

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California: Barstow School Board alleged to violate open meetings laws

donal brown November 28, 2011

An expert in open government law challenged the Barstow School Board contention that they had not violated the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law, in failing to report a vote out of closed session. The school board was considering the resignation of the school superintendent. -db From the Desert Dispatch, November 21, 2011. by Katie Lucia. Full story  

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California’s Brown Act: When closed government meetings are legal

donal brown November 17, 2011

Local governments are allowed to conduct public business behind closed doors to discuss a limited range of issues. Carolyn Schuk provides a primer on the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law, in the Santa Clara Weekly. -db From a commentary in the Santa Clara Weekly, November 17, 2011, by Carolyn Schuk. Full story  

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California: Plaintiffs in Tulare County lunch meeting suit ask for rehearing

donal brown November 17, 2011

After losing bid to show the Tulare County Board of Supervisors violated open-meetings law by holding closed lunch meetings, the plaintiffs are asking the California 5th District Court of Appeals to reconsider their ruling. The Court ordered the plantiffs to pay legal costs in ruling the issue moot since the supervisors no longer conducted lunch meetings. -db From the Visalia Times-Delta, November 15, 2011, by David Castellon. Full story    

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A&A: Closed door meetings benefitted labor union at cost of public tidelands

FAC November 15, 2011

Q: After holding closed door negotiations with a public coalition that included the local union, the Port of San Diego announced  a hotel development deal that included a Project Labor Agreement with the union.  The development will be build on public tidelands, which sacrifices the Port Master Plan-designated parkland.  Were the extensive secret labor negotiations legal? A: There are two basic steps in determining whether a meeting is subject to the Brown Act. First, a

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