Friday, Apr. 18, 2008

Brown Act reviewed by commission

City attorney presents meeting requirements to airport commission

At this month's Airport Advisory Commission meeting the board welcomed a new member and heard its responsibilities under the Brown Act.

Larry Leonardo was sworn in as the newest Airport Commissioner Tuesday. Leonardo comes to the board with experience as a California Aerospace and Aviation commissioner. He said his brother is a pilot and fixed base operator so even though he's does not fly planes himself he enjoys being a passenger.

Leonardo thanked his fellow commissioners and the public for the opportunity to serve on the board,ignoring that he was nominated and confirmed by the mayor and City Council. Leonardo also thanked commissioners in advance for teaching him how to conduct Airport Advisory Commission business.

"I'll be leaning on you folks to kind of learn the ropes and I appreciate your help and consideration," he said.

Coinciding with Leonardo's arrival, City Attorney William Vaughn delivered a presentation on the Brown Act.

Vaughn said the act mainly secures the public's right to know.

"It's basically sunshine legislation," he said. "The old anecdotal stories are they'd have the City Council meetings at the old fire station and then they'd have the real meeting down at Carlo's over martinis. That had the tendency not to involve the public."

Vaughn said the premise of the Brown Act is having open meetings in a forum setting.

He warned Airport Advisory members against serial meetings. He used the scenario of commissioners talking on the phone about commission business as an example. Vaughn said such conversations conducted in any manner that would result in a qourum is a violation of the Brown Act. E-mail communication is subject to the same rules, Vaughn said.

He said the public also has a right to know what will be discussed at public meetings. He said the city of Merced found itself in some legal trouble because it had set up a kiosk where the council's agenda could be viewed at its City Hall.

"The problem with that is at 5 o'clock at night they lock the door. So that was determined not to be freely accessible to the public," Vaughn said. "If I had a burning desire to know what you folks are doing at 2 o'clock in the morning I can stop at the freely accessible location and I can see what you're up to. I can't be block away behind some doors where I have to be at the mercy of the jurisdiction."

Airport Advisory Commissioner Jack Aguilar expressed frustration that more people do not understand the rules of the Brown Act.

"The Brown Act doesn't worry me because all it says is that you cannot talk to anybody about business that belongs to the public," Aguilar said. "Everytime you go to any meeting in town somebody will tell you (that) you can't do that because of the Brown Act."

Vaughn said under the Brown Act conferences,public ceremonies,community meetings, gatherings of other legislative bodies and social events are OK for board members to attend together.

"The mere fact that you're on this board doesn't mean you can never run into each other, you got to run the opposite way when you see each other coming down the street," Vaughn said.

Although violating the act can rise to the level of a misdemeanor criminal offense, Vaughn said usually the biggest problem governmental bodies face is a public relations nightmare fueled by the press.

Enterprise staff writer Corey Pride can be reached at 826-3831 ext. 106 or cpride@losbanosenterprise.com