Community members in the South Bay went through a rigorous crash course of Open Government training Tuesday night to learn about open meeting laws, public records requests policies and campaign finance and disclosure regulations.
The Open Government Boot Camp, hosted by San Diegans for Open Government and CaliforniansAware, was held at the MAAC community room at 1387 Third Ave.
The boot camp coincided with Sunshine Week, a week devoted to promoting open government throughout the nation.
Attendees received a brief lesson on the Ralph M. Brown Act, the state law that guarantees the public’s right to attend and participate in meetings of local legislative bodies.
Under the act, all meetings shall be open and public.
“For the most part, the meetings of any decision-making body must be open,” said open government and environmental attorney, Cory Briggs.
However, Briggs said there are some instances where a government body can hold discussions in private, this he said is called the closed session portion of a public meeting.
“There are instances where (meetings) don’t have to be in public,” Briggs said.
In closed session, a government body has the authority to privately make personnel decisions, deal with a real estate transaction, or negotiate with labor unions and discuss litigation matters.
At the same time, closed sessions must also be treated like an open meeting in the fact that a government body needs to agendize items for closed session.
When a government agency violates the Brown Act, they can be taken to court, Briggs said.
“If they screw up under the Brown Act, they can be sued for it,” Briggs said.
Briggs is currently suing the city of Chula Vista for alleged Brown Act violations in the process that appointed Chula Vista Councilman Steve Miesen to a seat on the City Council.
Southwestern College governing board member Humberto Peraza, one of two elected officials at the boot camp, said the boot camp provided a great opportunity to inform the public on how to check government.
“I think it’s good for the community to get educated on these issues,” Peraza said. “I think it’s really important to know what your government is doing, know what the rules are for the elected officials, what the government can and can’t do. I think it’s really important for residents to understand that, so that they can check the government.”
In regard to the California Public Records Act, attorney Marco Gonzalez said public records should be available to the public, but there are a few exceptions.
“All of the agency’s records must be disclosed to the public, upon request, unless there is a specific reason not to do so,” he said.
Briggs said when an elected official is in office, they are required to fill out California form 700, which lists any assets and income earned by the official.
Tino Martinez, a member of Southwest Chula Vista Civic Association, said the boot camp was much needed.
“I think it’s something our community, especially in the Southwest, really needs in order to educate us on our rights,” he said. “A lot of times our politicians and our elected officials here try to hide behind the Brown Act and different (government) forms. Today we learned different ways to get financials and essential things that would help our local government stay transparent.”
