Brown Act

COSTA MESA — Advocates for government transparency have asserted that some of the city's advisory panels violated the state's open meetings law. The small committees, called "working groups," are supposed to make their recommendations in public council sessions without discussing their findings with council members beforehand. The directives are found in California's open meetings law, the Brown Act. "The working groups are plainly standing committees, having been given, by title and staff description, as presented for approval, distinct and continuing areas of subject matter jurisdiction," according to a letter Californians Aware attorney Terry Francke sent to the City Council.

COSTA MESA — Working groups formed by the City Council in January did not violate the state open-meetings law, City Atty. Thomas P. Duarte wrote in a letter responding to an advocacy group's public assertion that Costa Mesa had breached the Brown Act. On Tuesday, a lawyer for the government transparency group Californians Aware rejected Duarte's response as unsatisfactory, saying it would pursue the matter in court. Terry Francke, general counsel for the Carmichael, Calif.-based Californians Aware, told the Daily Pilot he would recommend that the group seeks a California Superior Court order that any future meetings of Costa Mesa's "working groups" be held in compliance with the act. "A committee that is given a title and a general area of responsibility such as these … without a windup date or assignment of an immediate task have to be regarded as a standing committees," Francke said.

June Casagrande Though one complaint that the city violated state open meeting laws was dismissed months ago, city officials continue to await word on whether a complaint filed in November 2001 is valid in the district attorney's eyes. Newport officials in October received a letter from the Orange County district attorney's office notifying them that the city did not violate state open-meeting laws when it decided, in closed session, to spend $455,000 to hire two lobbyists to represent the city's position on the John Wayne Airport settlement agreement.

Costa Mesa's city attorney has rejected a resident's claim that city officials violated the Brown Act by participating in private meetings concerning the city's Job Center. Martin Millard, a Costa Mesa resident who has said the city shouldn't be running the Job Center, sent the complaint to City Attorney Kimberly Hall Barlow on July 12. It alleged that members of the City Council and city staff have worked with an independent committee but withheld information about their involvement and the committee's work.

Christine Carrillo A student government budget committee will start abiding by the state's open meeting law after it was accused of operating behind closed doors by the college newspaper. "We sought legal opinion and found that [the committee] is subject to the Brown Act," said Kate Mueller, Orange Coast College's dean of students, who oversees the associated students. "We didn't know we were in violation of the Brown Act, and there was no attempt to be in violation.

Among the laws that journalists hold most dear are those regulating government action and forcing most, though not all, decision-making to be done well out in the public's eye. These laws vary from state to state, some being much friendlier to government watchdogs than others. In California, the open meeting law is known as the Brown Act and, like most rules, is long and detailed, and sometimes even a bit confusing. Thankfully, it is rare that any public official or agency is found in violation of the law. It is not that rare, however, for Brown Act charges to be raised.

Lolita Harper COSTA MESA -- City officials escaped further investigation into a possible violation of open-meeting laws by deciding to discontinue nontraditional negotiations with developers, the Orange County district attorney's office said Tuesday. The district attorney's office announced Tuesday it will drop its inquiry into a possible violation of the Brown Act because Costa Mesa officials decided among themselves to stop questionable negotiations with C.J. Segerstrom & Sons regarding the Home Ranch development in June.

Marisa O'Neil A Newport-Mesa Unified School District trustee is accusing his colleagues of possibly violating board policy and the state's open-meeting law. Trustee Tom Egan read a written statement at the end of Tuesday night's otherwise routine school board meeting. The statement, which referred to an e-mail sent by a fellow trustee, was greeted with a stunned silence in the board chambers. "In the district's five-year strategic plan, we commit ourselves to: 'Hold ourselves accountable to the highest standards of performance and service, which improve and support student learning,'" Egan read during his trustee report.

Lolita Harper COSTA MESA -- The Orange County district attorney's office has opened a preliminary investigation into a possible violation of the Brown Act by the City Council and Planning Commission, officials said this week. Deputy Dist. Atty. Pete Pierce, of a special unit designed to investigate government officials, confirmed he is looking into a possible violation of the Brown Act, the state law that governs public meetings. Part of that law mandates that the public must be notified in advance if an issue is going to be discussed by a formal committee set up by the City Council.

COSTA MESA - Just three months ago, the Orange County Employees Assn. applauded a California government watchdog group that suggested Mayor Gary Monahan and another council member violated the state's open-meeting law by sitting on a two-member budget committee behind closed doors. Last week, Monahan returned the favor by calling for county prosecutors to investigate OCEA General Manager Nick Berardino in his new role as a member of the O.C. Fair Board because, in his view, Berardino is not conducting the public's business in public.

During the past few City Council meetings, Councilmen Jim Righeimer, Gary Monahan, Eric Bever and Steve Mensinger have all bellyached about having a full plate even though their jobs are part-time. What we didn't know was they were feeding at the public trough — literally! Did you know from July 2008 to January 2011, the Costa Mesa City Council spent more than $5,300 on dinners, lunches and breakfasts for city bureaucrats? The single largest recipient of city meals was the City Council, which received more than $4,200 of taxpayer-paid meals at dinners and receptions.

COSTA MESA — Working groups formed by the City Council in January did not violate the state open-meetings law, City Atty. Thomas P. Duarte wrote in a letter responding to an advocacy group's public assertion that Costa Mesa had breached the Brown Act. On Tuesday, a lawyer for the government transparency group Californians Aware rejected Duarte's response as unsatisfactory, saying it would pursue the matter in court. Terry Francke, general counsel for the Carmichael, Calif.-based Californians Aware, told the Daily Pilot he would recommend that the group seeks a California Superior Court order that any future meetings of Costa Mesa's "working groups" be held in compliance with the act. "A committee that is given a title and a general area of responsibility such as these … without a windup date or assignment of an immediate task have to be regarded as a standing committees," Francke said.

COSTA MESA — Advocates for government transparency have asserted that some of the city's advisory panels violated the state's open meetings law. The small committees, called "working groups," are supposed to make their recommendations in public council sessions without discussing their findings with council members beforehand. The directives are found in California's open meetings law, the Brown Act. "The working groups are plainly standing committees, having been given, by title and staff description, as presented for approval, distinct and continuing areas of subject matter jurisdiction," according to a letter Californians Aware attorney Terry Francke sent to the City Council.

COSTA MESA — Councilwoman Wendy Leece said that she believes that the selection of Costa Mesa's mayor and mayor pro tem was made during private conversations in advance of Tuesday's council meeting. The former mayor pro tem, who wanted to become mayor, on Thursday asked City Atty. Kimberly Hall Barlow to provide her with the information she needs to file a complaint under the Brown Act, a California law that requires most government policymaking decisions to be conducted in public.

Well, the political honeymoon didn't last long in Costa Mesa. Costa Mesa Councilwoman Wendy Leece has asked the city attorney for help in pursuing a Brown Act violation against three of her council colleagues. The Brown Act is state law designed to prevent elected and government officials from conducting the public's business in secret. In an e-mail sent late Wednesday to City Atty. Kimberly Hall Barlow, Leece said decisions at Tuesday's council meeting to elect Gary Monahan as mayor and Jim Righeimer as mayor pro tem appeared to be "pre-arranged.

COSTA MESA — Putting in 17 hour days as a young man, Jesse Garcia had a vision to be his own boss. Fast forward 21 years. Garcia, now 49, owns four businesses in Orange County. But one of them, a recycling center at 739 W. 19th St. in Costa Mesa where customers exchange bottles and cans for cash, is threatened with closure after two decades in operation. The Costa Mesa Planning Commission recently voted 4 to 1 to revoke the Garcia Recycling Center's conditional use permit, which grants a business permission to operate in the city.

With the start of the local campaign season, it is a good time to review the qualifications of the ideal candidate. The ideal candidate knows a good idea when he or she sees one. That good idea can come from anyone at anytime. If the idea comes from someone with whom the candidate has had past differences, the candidate becomes a champion of the idea anyway. The candidate looks at each paper clip in City Hall or the school district office as money. Copy paper is money. The desks, lamps, pens and pencils are money, too. To the candidate, each police car, school bus, telephone and scratch pad is money.

As a board member and former liaison from the City Council, I believe the people of Costa Mesa deserve a different viewpoint as to the operations and procedures at the Costa Mesa Senior Center. It seems as if the Daily Pilot is only printing the viewpoint of those who are quick to make accusations and false statements regarding the center. As recently as Dec. 23 (?Senior center needs better management?), one writer makes statements that are so far from the truth they are ridiculous.