+ LBREPORT.com Moves To End Violation Of Brown Act by Council's Public Safety Committee (That Has Allowed It To Prevent Public Testimony On Non-Agendized Items And Tightly Control Council-Level Discussion Of Public Safety And Police Issues)
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LBREPORT.com Moves To End Violation Of Brown Act by Council's Public Safety Committee (That Has Allowed It To Prevent Public Testimony On Non-Agendized Items And Tightly Control Council-Level Discussion Of Public Safety And Police Issues) .



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LBREPORT.com is reader and advertiser supported. Support independent news in LB similar to the way people support NPR and PBS stations. We're not non-profit so it's not tax deductible but $49.95 (less than an annual dollar a week) helps keep us online.

(Sept. 17, 2020) -- This morning (Sept 17), LBREPORT.oom sent the communication below to City Attorney Charles Pakin, cc'd to City Clerk Monique De La Garza:

[Sept. 17 email from LBREPORT.com] In the public interest, LBREPORT.com, an independent online news outlet now our 21st year in Long Beach, requets your office's action to correct a continuing violation of the Brown Act by the City Council's Public Safety Committee in failing to agendize a period allowing public comment on non-agendized items.

This isn't a small matter since the Public Safety Committee's action allows it to prevent the public from bringing public safety and police issues to the Committee's attention in a public manner, regardless of whether they are to the liking of Committee chair (with the power to agendize items) or its members. In this way, the Public Safety Committee has been able to maintain a grip on Council Committee level discussion of public safety and police issues in Long Beach.

On Sept. 16, 2020, the undersigned, and potentially other Long Beach residents, were prevented from signing up to offer telephonic testimony on non-agendized items at the Committee's 1 p.m. Sept. 16 meeting. At midmorning Sept. prior to the City Clerk's noon sign-up deadline, LBREPORT.com's publisher alerted your office and the City Clerk's office to this issue and sought a timely remedy by the City Clerk's noon sign-up deadline. We received no response until well after the Committee meeting was already underway and had been in progress for nearly half an hour, at which time a City Clerk staffer emailed that he would call us for our testimony. We declined the offer as untimely and unresponsive to the Brown Act issues cited in our Sept. 16 midmorning email to your office cc'd to the City Clerk. (With no agenda item accompanying her action, moment's before the Committee's adjournment chair Price invited public comment of which there was none since none had been agendized.)

CA Government Code section 54954 provides that "(a)...Meetings of advisory committees or standing committees, for which an agenda is posted at least 72 hours in advance of the meeting pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 54954.2, shall be considered for purposes of this chapter as regular meetings of the legislative body " CA Government Code section 54954.3 provides "(a) Every agenda for regular meetings shall provide an opportunity for members of the public to directly address the legislative body on any item of interest to the public..."

The agendas for the Council's Public Safety Committee meetings don't provide an opportunity for the public to address non agendized items of interest to the public. They fail to comply with the above cited requirements of the Brown Act.

LBREPORT.com respectfully requests a written response from your office indicating resolution of this matter by adding an item to future Public Safety Committee agendas inviting public comment on non-agendized items (with telephonic sign-ups accompanying said item.) Please advise and thank you.

Developing.







Sept. 18: Due to an editing error, the text of this story was for several hours mislinked to a story on Police Chief Luna's testimony, corrected Sept. 18, 6:45 a.m. .

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Support really independent news in Long Beach. No one in LBREPORT.com's ownership, reporting or editorial decision-making has ties to development interests, advocacy groups or other special interests; or is seeking or receiving benefits of City development-related decisions; or holds a City Hall appointive position; or has contributed sums to political campaigns for Long Beach incumbents or challengers. LBREPORT.com isn't part of an out of town corporate cluster and no one its ownership, editorial or publishing decisionmaking has been part of the governing board of any City government body or other entity on whose policies we report. LBREPORT.com is reader and advertiser supported. You can help keep really independent news in LB similar to the way people support NPR and PBS stations. We're not non-profit so it's not tax deductible but $49.95 (less than an annual dollar a week) helps keep us online.


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