The San Benito County Board of Supervisors apparently have
broken the state open meetings act repeatedly as they have met in
closed session since November, yet included in those meetings two
supervisors elect who have not yet been sworn into office.
The San Benito County Board of Supervisors apparently have broken the state open meetings act repeatedly as they have met in closed session since November, yet included in those meetings two supervisors elect who have not yet been sworn into office.
On a handful of occasions, supervisors have met to discuss pending lawsuits, yet included Pat Loe and Reb Monaco in the meetings, saying that the two need to be informed on the issues when they’re sworn in Jan. 7.
However, the Brown Act says that only voting officials and staff can be present at those meetings. A 1965 Attorney General ruling says that meetings cannot be qualified by selective invitation of some people while excluding the general public, and that all of those people in the meeting must serve some function essential to the confidential communication, not just sit in as observers.
“By bringing in observers,” said Jim Ewertt, an attorney for the California Newspaper Publishers’ Association and an expert in the Brown Act, “they have created a semi-closed meeting – and there’s no such thing as that. If non-voting observers are at the meeting, then everyone should be allowed in.”
County Counsel Karen Forcum, when advised of the situation after a closed session on Thursday that Loe attended, said supervisors-elect always had been included in the past.
“It’s never been raised as an issue,” she said. “Now we’ll look at it if it ever arises again.”
Brown Act violations are enforceable only if a member of the public files a complaint. In extreme cases, the courts can force the governing body to revoke actions taken in an illegal closed session.
