Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/open-government/)
Orange County supervisors were planning to privately discuss Tuesday whether to explore using county-owned land for a veterans cemetery, but changed their agenda after Voice of OC questioned its legality.
Will the Newport Beach City Council meet in closed session Tuesday to discuss the process for hiring a new city manager?
The plan could be illegal, according to two attorneys who specialize in California public records law.
In 2012, the so-called “Santa Ana Spring” council members touted the revival of committees on key city issues as an example of a more transparent city government. Now the meetings are mostly cancelled.
The Orange County Water District’s Board of Directors has several committees that meet outside of public view. And several of them appear to be doing so illegally, according to open government expert Terry Francke.
The act, for example, does not adequately cover communication via text and emails. But 2016 might be the year courts and policymakers move to close loopholes created by technology.
Open government advocates are trying to get a proposal on the November 2016 ballot that would make Californians the first in the nation with a constitutional right to know about the big money behind political campaigns.
Officials want to take steps to improve the city’s relationship with residents and the media after more than a year of dealing with fallout from nepotism revelations.
Complaints from student journalists about the university’s communications department, and its chief spokesman Christopher Bugbee, are echoed by members of the professional media.
Voters will decide on a constitutional amendment addressing costs, and the state Legislature will take on the controversy over public comments.