Council to Look at Toughening Ad-Hoc Committee Rules
Eric Richardson
Los Angeles City Hall
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Last week's hearing on AEG's proposed Downtown stadium didn't produce any groundbreaking announcements, but the session may end up leading to a change in City Council's rules.
At the start of the hearing, the City Attorney's office informed committee members that they were not bound by the typical rules of a Council or committee meeting governed by the Brown Act, California's 1953 law aimed at ensuring open meetings. That's because the meeting was being held by an ad-hoc council committee, not a normal standing committee.
Among other things, the Brown Act requires that agendas be posted 72 hours in advance of meetings (or 24 hours in the case of sessions dubbed "special") and that no action be taken on items not on the agenda.
While the City Attorney's advice is well-supported by state opinions, it didn't sit well with Councilman Bill Rosendahl, who the following day introduced CF 11-1154, a motion asking the city's Chief Legislative Analyst to draft rules that would require all committees of L.A.'s City Council—both standing and ad-hoc—to adhere to the Brown Act's public notice requirements. Council President Eric Garcetti and Councilman Paul Krekorian both seconded the motion.
The agenda for the stadium meeting would still have been in compliance with the rules for special sessions: it was posted on Wednesday morning, just over 24 hours before the meeting.
downtown vibe on July 07, 2011, at 04:30PM – #1
Thank You Councilman Rosendahl, Garcetti, and Krekorian!
It seems that its not just DWP that needs more oversight!
Greg Nelson on July 07, 2011, at 08:28PM – #2
Please keep in mind that the chair of the ad hoc committee, Jan Perry, wanted to have a closed-door session at the end of the meeting despite the fact that such a meeting and the possibility of a vote being taken wasn't on the agenda.
There would have been compliance with the Brown Act if the committee had gone ahead with that because ad hoc committees are exempt. Also, the Brown Act does permit agendas to be released with just 24 hours notice but that's usually for urgent matters. Tim Leiweke knew about this meeting many days in advance and was telling people about it.
And Perry has still refused to send to the full City Council the negotiating principles that the ad hoc committee adopted at its first meeting.
If the committee wanted to help ensure that nobody knew about the meeting this would be the tactic.
Although you may support the AEG stadium proposal, it should be important that it be discussed as openly and transparently as possible because the next time the City Council uses this tactic it may be in connection with a proposal you don't support.
downtown vibe on July 08, 2011, at 02:49PM – #3
And it looks like Greg knows what he is talking about!
It is also suspicious that not only did the public not know about this meeting, the unions did.
Nobdy there except vocal supporters of the project.
Eric Richardson (@blogdowntown) on July 08, 2011, at 05:24PM – #4
vibe: I think it's a little unfair to say that the public didn't know about the meeting. The date and time was well-publicized (including in our Around the Halls). The exact agenda came out 24 hours or so ahead of the meeting, but its existence was well known much earlier.
downtown vibe on July 09, 2011, at 02:31PM – #5
Eric,
That may be true, but I am well aware of the manipulation of meeting rules to avoid public comment. It is done all the time. Most recently with the DWP and rate increases.
It just looks like the Stadium is a done deal. The architectural firm is already moving downtown. The "Blue Ribbon committee" looks like it is nothing more than people who are going to push the project.
The Specific Plan around LA LIVE was created by the developer and their design firm. The Planning Department was used to create a plan guaranteeing that AEG would not have to do any major improvements to the surrounding area. They are being taken care of.
That being said, I am looking forward to a new Stadium.