Behind closed doors

OUR BOARD, here at the SOCCCD, is known for, among other things, its “persistent and defiant misconduct” re the Brown Act, a law that forbids “secret” discussions by "legislative" bodies: school boards, city councils, and the like.

Ah, but infamy is fleeting. It looks like the Capo school district’s board are the new paragons of arrogance, incompetence, and secrecy. Check out this morning's LA Times: "Capistrano Unified secret meetings criticized":

Capistrano Unified School District trustees routinely violated the state's open-meetings law, discussing in secret topics such as construction contracts, how to silence a district critic and ways to prepare parents for bad news about schools, all of which should have been debated in public, according to a report released by the Orange County district attorney's office Tuesday.

Trustees tried to keep the community from participating in district decision-making and to manipulate public opinion, the report said.

"That such discussions are undertaken in secret by a body charged with the community's most important obligation, to adequately educate its young, is nothing short of disturbing," said the report by Assistant Dist. Atty. William J. Feccia.

The 58-page report is the latest blow to the beleaguered southern Orange County district, which this year saw its former superintendent and another top administrator indicted on felony charges of using public funds to influence an election and create an enemies list. Although the alleged violations of the state's open-meeting law do not meet the bar for criminal prosecution, if the district disputes the findings, prosecutors could file a lawsuit to prove the violations occurred, the report said.

…Though most of the district's 56 schools are well-regarded, its trustees and administrators have been mired in conflicts in recent years. Critics have loudly protested the location of a new high school, opposed attendance boundary changes and fought construction of a $35-million administration complex while hundreds of classes were being held in aging portables….

Really, you should read the whole article. For me, it’s like déjà vu.

The OC Reg covered the story, too. They note that

The district attorney's recommended actions follow on the heels of a lawsuit earlier this year against the district, when the district agreed to record its closed-session meetings for one year and have trustees undergo Brown Act training as part of a February settlement agreement. However, the district admitted to no wrongdoing in that settlement. The district attorney's report, by contrast, insists that the district confess to the alleged violations.

Years ago, when Wendy and I sued the SOCCCD board over its Brown Act violations, at one point, the court required similar recordings.

Guess what?

That’s right. The board flat didn’t do it.

TEN YEARS AGO:

9/19/97
Second lawsuit filed vs. college district
By KIMBERLY KINDY
The Orange County Register

A second lawsuit that accuses South Orange County Community College District board members of violating public meeting laws was filed Thursday.

An Orange County Superior Court judge also signed a ruling against the board on the first lawsuit Thursday, saying board members violated the Brown Act in April when they appointed an interim president at Irvine Valley College behind closed doors. The judge had made an oral ruling two weeks earlier.

In the second lawsuit, Irvine Valley Professor Roy Bauer accuses the board of violating the Brown Act on July 18 when it met in closed session and emerged with a plan to reorganize the administration at both Irvine and Saddleback colleges.

Three board members walked out of that meeting in protest, trustee Dave Lang said.

"In my estimation, there have been violations of the Brown Act," Lang said in an interview. "I have made that known very well to them (fellow board members) when I walked out of the meeting in July."