Sunshine Week, which begins today, is a national initiative spearheaded by the American Society of News Editors to educate the public about the importance of open government and the dangers of excessive and unnecessary secrecy.
Our Founding Fathers, revered for their courage and determination, knew far too well the nation they were creating was only an experiment; that persistence lay ahead if the people's government was to survive.
They openly worried that too much power placed in too few hands might wrest freedom and control away, reverting back to what they fought so hard to overcome. Today, the American people have come face-to-face with this challenge, and California presents an excellent example.
Almost daily there are stories of public corruption scandals, bribery and extortion by those we elect and appoint to do the people's business. But these outrages never could have happened if the electorate had known about these deals before they occurred. Public corruption is facilitated by secrecy; backroom deals with a quid pro quo.
Almost 60 years ago, the California Legislature observed, "Legislative and administrative groups and officials through devious ways are depriving us, the public, of our inalienable right to be present and to be heard at all deliberations of governmental bodies." The result of that observation was the enactment of the Ralph M. Brown Act, California's open- meetings law.
In 1968 the Legislature followed up with the Public Records Act to guarantee "access to information concerning the conduct of the people's business." Then in 2004, Proposition 59 made these open government laws constitutional protections.
Yet, despite these assurances, public officials continue to raid local treasuries like kids at a candy barrel.
One of our recent public records compliance audits of school districts, colleges and universities revealed administrators' routine use of limousine services, the fanciest hotels, $12,000/year vehicle reimbursements, tens-of-thousands in housing allowances, and contracts with automatic salary escalators of as much as $75,000 a year.
All of these "gifts" were given by our elected school boards and university regents at meetings open to the public. However, the vast majority of the time, no member of the public made even a single comment before their approval.
The sad news is that this all happens because "we the people" don't pay any attention; a willful ignorance amply facilitated by news media that fail to keep us informed. The usual practice is for the electorate to vote for those telling us what we want to hear, whether it's for or against an incoming Walmart, funding for parks or some other hot topic; then we return to ignoring local government as soon as we leave the polling place.
And this problem has been made more difficult by local government's eagerness to create more and more public agencies. Every one of these public boards and commissions employs staff and sets their compensation. But it's not only the salaries and obvious benefits, it's the pensions.
There are public employees who, at age 50, can retire with a guarantee of 90 percent of their pay and full health benefits for the rest of their lives; all obtained without ever having paid anything for these while they were working. All was covertly promised to be paid for by their city. And we wonder why government, both local and state, is going broke.
So what's the answer? Well, for a start, it is demanding government give us much more information without us having to ask for it. Publication of all proposed employment and union contracts. Wider distribution of meeting agendas and backup information with a system for newspapers and the public to request these be provided to them automatically.
And a public demand that our representatives stop hiding behind closed sessions. None should be allowed for any purpose without early notice and a complete explanation of the issues to be discussed, with an invitation for the public to comment before they are held.
We also must demand that government not only announce, but educate the public on the issues important to them, ask for input and only then take action. We must hold our public officials accountable for keeping us well-informed.
As James Madison warned: "A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives."
Read more:http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/mar/12/mckee-sunshine-laws-enforce-publics-right-to/#ixzz1GS9HjJPh
- vcstar.com
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The Ventura County District Attorney's Office intends to review whether Simi Valley Councilman Glen Becerra violated the state's open-meeting law by privately talking with the company that is proposing to expand a Simi Valley landfill.
City Attorney Tracy Noonan said Wednesday she is preparing a legal opinion on the matter and hopes to forward it by the end of the week to Special Assistant District Attorney Michael Schwartz, the office's expert on the Brown Act. He said he will open a review once he receives Noonan's opinion.
Noonan said it is routine for the city to refer such allegations to the prosecutor's office.
Becerra said he supported Noonan's decision so the public can be assured of an impartial review. "I'm confident that the District Attorney will conclude no violation occurred," he said.
The issue centers on Becerra's discussion with Mike Smith, director of operations for Waste Management, which is negotiating environmental impact issues with a city team concerned about the company's landfill expansion in a neighboring unincorporated area. The team includes City Manager Mike Sedell, Mayor Bob Huber and Councilwoman Barbra Williamson.
Becerra's involvement in the talks might constitute a quorom of the five-member City Council, triggering a possible Brown Act violation. A majority of a city council is forbidden to have conversations, together or through other means, about official business outside a formal meeting
Schwartz said prosecutors frequently demand that the offending council simply fix the violation, which can be a misdemeanor offense.
Richard McKee, president emeritus of a Brown Act advocacy group, Californians Aware, said he believes Becerra's conversation with Smith did trigger a violation, based on media reports. But, he said, it can easily be remedied.
"The council can simply cure the problem by sharing Becerra's discussion with Smith at its next meeting and assuring the public it will not happen again," he said.
Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/mar/09/da-to-review-councilmans-alleged-brown-act/#ixzz1GS9to0Xs
- vcstar.com
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A January payment of $331,552 to Thousand Oaks from Ventura County to provide library services to residents in neighboring unincorporated areas likely will be the last, after several rounds of negotiations failed to produce a new agreement.
County Executive Officer Marty Robinson is expected to advise the
Ventura County Board of Supervisors at a meeting Tuesday that further discussions are not warranted. It might end a more than a two year tussle over a 20-year funding agreement between the county and city.
"We really don't see there's a need to pursue further discussions," said Robinson, who is retiring at the end of the month. "It's probably time to put this thing to rest and move onto the next challenge. This is not something I can put off to the next CEO."
Thousand Oaks City Manager Scott Mitnick was critical of the CEO's decision, saying proposals the city put forward to reach a compromise were not thoroughly vetted by the county.
"It is a shame to see negotiations end prematurely, especially since there is no real deadline or requirement at this time," Mitnick said. "We tried from the beginning to have win/win good faith negotiations to look for consensus."
Mitnick was in Washington, D.C., on Friday lobbying for continued funding for the widening of the Highway 101/Highway 23 interchange. When Mitnick asked if the agenda item could be postponed, Robinson said she noted that she is retiring and the issue needs closure, and then she suggested the city manager cut his trip short.
The tug-of-war began in the summer of 2008. It is rooted in a 1989 agreement that called for the Ventura County Free Library System to use property taxes, a portion of which goes to public libraries, to pay the city to provide library services to neighboring county residents. The amount was determined on a per-capita formula.
Thousand Oaks has maintained its own library system since 1980.
In April 2009, the county Library Commission faced budget woes and argued that libraries in the county system served residents in unincorporated areas. It then decided to cancel the contract with Thousand Oaks and not pay $193,000 that the city was expecting for the 2009-10 fiscal year.
Supervisors later overturned that decision, paid the amount owed and opted to renegotiate the agreement rather than cancel it. Six months into the process, the board voted to give notice that it planned to cancel the contract, although discussions could continue.
County and city officials met eight times over 18 months. Several proposals were pitched, including: the county buying and running the city library system without a city general fund subsidy; the city purchasing and running Oak Park Library, using property taxes from the affected unincorporated area; the city rejoining the county library system.
None made it past the conceptual discussion.
"We have come up with good proposals with analytical data behind it and the county didn't do that," Mitnick said. "And it saddens me that we're not able to implement any of them."
He likened the county's decision to cut off funding and redirect local taxpayer money to the state's practice of raiding local coffers to handle the state budget crisis.
The comparison was soundly rejected by Robinson, who pointed out that the payments to the city represented taxpayer money from throughout the county.
Robinson said while the proposals were creative, they either did not meet the guidelines set by supervisors or were not acceptable to one of the parties.
"We have been highly ethical, highly fair, indeed we discovered an error and it was to the benefit of Thousand Oaks," Robinson said. "Issues aside, I understand why the city would want some other results of this situation."
During the course of shifting funds, the county discovered an error in the calculation formula used by the library system and the auditor. The city had been underpaid for several years and a payment of nearly $1 million was made to the city.
The county library system has been in transition in recent months, with Camarillo opting out of it and Ventura considering a similar step.
Mitnick said he hopes the supervisor who represents the city of Thousand Oaks will step forward to help remedy the situation. He was referring to Supervisor Linda Parks, who did not return a call for comment for this story.
"The city would like our county supervisor to work with the city, the unincorporated Thousand Oaks taxpayers and local library patrons to avoid terminating the funding and to implement long-term solutions," he said.
Like the county's library system, Thousand Oaks' libraries have had their share of budget of woes, with positions cut, programming rolled back and hours shortened. Mitnick said if the county's payments were curtailed, the city would have to look for ways to fill the gap, which could mean more cuts.
Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/mar/12/county-ceo-recommends-ending-library-funding-to/#ixzz1GSAKTo5s
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Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/mar/12/county-ceo-recommends-ending-library-funding-to/#ixzz1GSAV7JEj
- vcstar.com
Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/mar/12/mckee-sunshine-laws-enforce-publics-right-to/#ixzz1GS94c7i9
- vcstar.com
here is what I wrote TOCC and it was fed to their watergate shredder:
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Can you please explain why this was NOT part of the Fri Green packet?
Also why is the Fri packet not added to web site till Tues?
Why is the Tues packet NOT on web and many including Council Members have NOT read it and are voting on INCOMPLTE info.
Why are citizen comments being removed from the web green packet??
Your prompt reply will be appreciated.
Forget a reply NOT even a free smile!!