Did Artesia’s City Council Violate the Brown Act? It Seems So!

 


Artesia, California - Three Artesia councilmembers appeared to have violated the Ralph M. Brown Act.

The Brown Act is a California law that governs how public meetings by legislative bodies (like a City Council), and ensures the public’s right to participate in these meetings.

Section 14 of the Brown Act says: A person may not disclose confidential information that has been acquired by being present in a closed session authorized by Section 54956.7, 54956.8, 54956.86, 54956.87, 54956.9, 54957, 54957.6, 54957.8, or 54957.10 to a person not entitled to receive it, unless the legislative body authorizes disclosure of that confidential information.

At the June 14 Council meeting, three councilmembers admitted during the meeting that they discussed in closed session, allegations that the City Manager Bill Rawlings had done some sort of wrongdoings.

Context Behind the Violation

At the time, the City Council was trying to strike down a policy that allowed employees to report unethical or criminal allegations about the City Manager to the City Attorney. Ironically, the Council seemingly decided to eliminate the policy because it had actually been used! In response to this attempt by the Council, the employee union organized several public comments to be submitted that essentially said that the policy needed to be there so that employees can report illegal or unethical behavior.

Councilmember Monica Manalo, in response to these comments, asked, “How did they find out?”  

She also said she was concerned that closed session items were leaked by one of the councilmembers.

Councilmembers Tony Lima and Ali Sajjad Taj also parroted the same concerns: How did they find out what we talked about in closed session?

Mayor Pro Tem Melissa Ramoso replied to them, “Well, they know now because you just said it.”

Union President Andrew Perry, after hearing the exchange, also pointed out, “How did they find out what?”  Perry disclosed that he knows what some of the allegations were, simply by being an employee of the City in proximity of other employees. Perry believes the Council discussed these items during two closed session meetings prior to the June council meeting.

“In my opinion,  it’s clear that their admission was a Brown Act violation,” said Perry.  “But I think this was ultimately a bungling by the City Manager, and it unintentionally endangered the council-members whom he controls.”

Perry disclosed, “Back in the day, the City Manager used to have me write talking points for the City Council. I called them a ‘Talking Points Memo’. I believe what happened was that talking points were handed down from the City Manager to the three councilmembers whom he believes can be puppeteered,” said Perry. “Bill (Rawlings) probably figured that the people who reported the allegations would say something during the council meeting, and thought that he can injure the reputation of the two councilmembers whom he doesn’t control. That didn’t happen. Because the public comments skirted the subject, the councilmembers just blurted out the talking points anyways, but on a subject that was irrelevant. If you watch the June 14 video, Item 25, you’d probably conclude that their responses were concerted, albeit applied incorrectly.”

If it’s true that there was a concerted strategy prior to the meeting, that would be a second Brown Act violation, specifically as a serial meeting as discussed in Section 54952.2 of the Act, but that would be much harder to prove.

Example of a Talking Points Memo from 2014.

Going Dark in July

In July, the City Council went dark, possibly to let time pass after the Brown Act violations, and hopefully get the public to forget about it.

Perry added, “Here’s the funny thing. No councilmember would have to disclose to me what they talked about. I already have an idea of what was discussed because I work in the same office as those who submitted those claims. And to be honest, I submitted something myself. So at the very least, I know what I submitted.”

Employees Ask Residents and Businesses to Help

“Residents and businesses,” pleaded Perry, “please don’t let the City Manager bury this under the rug. I strongly urge you to submit more public comments, either in person or via Email at publiccomments@cityofartesia.us. The comments can be about the importance of investigating the claims that were submitted to the City Attorney, or it can be about their violation of the Brown Act. Time is of the essence, please take a minute out of your busy schedule to submit the comments.”

The next council meeting is scheduled for August 9.  

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