An Arcadia resident is threatening to file a complaint with the local District Attorney or file a lawsuit against the city for violating state open meeting laws.
In a letter to the city council, resident David Arvizu said the city must either set aside the decisions made in closed session on May 5, or make the meeting minutes available to the public. Barring that, he says he is prepared to file suit against the city.
So what’s all the fuss about?
The Pasadena Star News reports, “In a closed session May 5, the City Council voted to suspend comprehensive updates to the city’s commercial and residential zoning codes, postpone the Neighborhood Impacts Committee and proceed with a historic preservation survey, excluding the Highland Oaks Homeowners’ Association.
“City Attorney Steven Deitsch said Tuesday that officials did not violate the Ralph M. Brown Act when they voted on three “procedural” items in closed session because they were tied to pending litigation against the city.
“He added that, under the Brown Act, the actions taken in closed session are not among those that need to be publicly reported and maintains that because the decisions were merely procedural, they did not need to be disclosed.
“The Brown Act doesn’t say specifically what you can and can’t discuss in closed session concerning pending litigation,” Deitsch said Wednesday. “It’s only those decisions that are regulatory in nature that cannot be decided upon in closed session, and no regulatory action was taken. It was simply a question of timing and procedure.”