Monday, June 16, 2003 4:26 PM
Sunshine Committee, many others, decry attack on Brown Act
BY TED JOHNSON AND KAREN OCAMB
After an uproar among journalists and open government advocates, Governor Gray Davis is reconsidering plans to remove a key govern- ment provision that requires the state to reim- burse local governments and their agencies for posting public meeting notices and publishing agendas.
Southern California journalists and members of the L.A. Sunshine Coalition, led by Press Club Board member Karen Ocamb, acted swift- ly to report and respond to this revision of the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law.
The provision had been buried in Davis’ May revised budget, released on May 14, as a way to relieve the state’s budget crunch and save millions. Judy Hammond, Los Angeles County’s Public Information Officer, noted the item in her May 15 memo to the Board of Supervisors on the budget.
But the first published report appeared on May 16 in the Riverside Press Enterprise by David Seaton, Sharon McNary and Jim Miller. That story and other commentary burned up cyberspace, as the Sunshine Coalition’s email network ran full throttle.
At the Press Club Board meeting May 19, the Sunshine Committee offered a resolution that passed unanimously. Marc Haefele, who attended the meeting, reported on the proposal for KPCC radio.
Alerted that L.A. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky would introduce a motion opposing Davis’ proposal, Ocamb quickly prepared to speak before the Board the next day, supported by Julian Do of New California Media. Sue Fox’s story on the proposal appeared in the L.A. Times that morning, prompting several people to speculate why Davis would make such a “ridiculous” proposal.
In his Daily News story, Troy Anderson quoted a portion of Ocamb’s remarks. “Without such laws, and away from public scrutiny, government officials might find it eas- ier and more personally beneficial to operate in the shadows or behind closed doors,” Ocamb said. “By codifying your policy into law, you are standing up for the principles of open government in the face of this proposed banal erosion of democracy.”
The Sunshine Coalition also supported a res- olution by L.A. City Councilmember Eric Garcetti to oppose Davis’ idea. However, the Coalition does not favor a motion by Councilmember Tom LaBonge to water down the Brown Act by exempting Neighborhood Councils from full enforcement of the law.
Yaroslavsky’s motion passed on May 27 and Garcetti’s resolution passed on May 28.
Although Davis has made no official com- ment, his spokesman now says his Brown Act proposal is under “review.”
