Our View: Placer not exempt from keeping
to the Brown Act
Our View
During these tough economic times, government at every level faces media scrutiny. The public has a right to know how elected officials are spending taxpayer dollars. That’s why it’s especially troubling that the Placer County District Attorney’s Office does little to actively enforce the Ralph Brown Act. A couple of highly publicized examples help illustrate the point: When examining Placer County receipts, the Auburn Journal found one from 2008 that touched a nerve with taxpayers – a $1,600 dinner in Washington, D.C. to “thank” then-Congressman John Doolittle. Supervisors Jim Holmes, Rocky Rockholm and Robert Weygandt dined handsomely on the taxpayers’ dime, along with CEO Tom Miller and then-assistant CEO Richard Colwell, among others. When questioned about the lavish dinner, Weygandt bristled. Weygandt said the dinner was an effective way to lobby our Washington representative, and that it paid off many times over in bringing home federal dollars. The problem with that reasoning, however, was the dinner was never agendized nor the public ever notified that three or more supervisors were meeting together discussing Placer County business. A minor violation of the Brown Act perhaps? Business as usual? Or is this an environment in which spending has gotten out of control? One look at the massive Placer County budget deficit helps provide the answers. Another more recent scenario shows not much has changed since 2008: Supervisors rubber-stamped the hiring of board chairman Kirk Uhler’s wife to an unadvertised near six-figure salary, and then subsequently OK’d a 5 percent raise after just six months. Taxpayers were rightfully outraged. The response from the supervisors? They say they had no choice because of a step-salary increase ordinance to which they were forced to adhere. To justify the seemingly wasteful, nepotistic spending, Rockholm said he had made his distaste for the ordinances known in a previous closed-session meeting. The problem with that argument is familiar: Closed-session discussion items must be agendized, according to the Brown Act, but they were not. League of Placer County Taxpayers leaders wrote letters to the editor complaining about the Brown Act violations after both instances were made public in the Journal. But there was no response on the alleged Brown Act violations from supervisors, county executives nor the District Attorney’s Office. With myriad Placer County elected officials, how is the District Attorney’s Office monitoring compliance with the Brown Act and when are violators warned or prosecuted? A good start would be by enforcing the Brown Act and utilizing the grand jury to the full extent of its legal capabilities. Perhaps Scott Owens, the heir-apparent to the District Attorney’s throne, can explain to taxpayers here, in space provided by the Journal. Many local elected boards take the Brown Act, the state open meetings law, very seriously. County supervisors might think they do, as well, but what many see is a good-old-boys network with a spending addiction. The county is facing budget deficits estimated at $20 million to $38 million over the next couple of years. County rank-and-file employees are facing possible layoffs. Services are being reduced. There are mandatory furlough days, and no sign of real changes in attitudes. With one exception: Newcomer Jennifer Montgomery has found the courage to speak and vote against the rubber-stamping, good-old-boy theology. With campaign war chests beefed up by local developers, Indian tribes and a political machine, it’s tough to change Placer County’s management-oriented spending. Now that CEO Miller is poised to look at all departments for personnel and spending cuts, maybe the District Attorney’s Office will pay attention to the Brown Act and the nepotistic environment in the county. It would be about time.
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AJ, take a look at WHERE the money is. Miller is socking it away in different areas to make the budget appear worse than it is so he can give it to the county worker rank and file. He looks at them with disdain. I'm not saying the budget outlook is rosy, but Placer has a lot in reserve. Miller just plays a shell game with it to further his agenda, take aways from the worker bees. As far as the Brown act, you should ask to interview an FBI agent about it, I'm sure they'd be interested.
The Brown Act is a state law. The FBI has nothing to do with it.
JonGreen: You are correct! The FBI will not enforce the Brown Act since it is not their jurisdiction: they. however have been too busy elsewhere with this county government.
Thanks to the Auburn Journal for finally putting light on the fact that the Board of Supervisors has been allegedly violating the Ralph M Brown Act. The Auburn City Council was recently pulled to task when it became apparent that the Streetscape Design Committee was meeting in violation of the Brown Act. Now we have the Newcastle Fire Protection District Board of Directors establishment of a “Steering Committee” and "allow Kathleen Dougherty to establish and facilitate a steering committee to assist in the steps needed to procure a new fire station.” For some inexplicable reason Members of that Steering Committee are under the impression that they aren’t governed by the Ralph M Brown Act. Look forward to any and all comments
"The problem with that reasoning, however, was the dinner was never agendized nor the public ever notified that three or more supervisors were meeting together discussing Placer County business. "
Hey, lighten-up, these boys met in D.C.: outside the jurisdiction of the Brown Act
And even if there were to be some sort of punishment for any violation, what would that be? As mentioned above, other jurisdictions and agencies have had their brush with the Brown Act, and what befell them? Anything? Has it ever? Perhaps there has been some sort of hand slap, or minor fine, but I don't recall hearing about it. The Brown Act is simple, but there are no teeth in violating it.
The Placer County Board of Supervisors is a rather incestuous bunch of "good ol' boys". Weygandt is running unopposed. Yet, they still have the money to spend, spend and spend more for the project on "Go For Broke Road" (the new county jail). I believe no one with any dignity wishes to run for office in this county outside of a bunch of real estate developers. My goal is to get the heck out of this place. So disgusting!
Rabidog, please get in contact with me if you have information about the FBI investigating Placer County government!!! My name is Jon Lancaster, my email address is jonl@idiom.com
Placer County government is corrupt. The district attorney, the sheriff, the good ol' boy board of supervisors, the planning department, code enforcement, etc. self service, corrupt and big believers in unequal treatment under the law nd guilty until proven innocent. And of course you're never innocent in Placer County with Sheriff Bonner in charge.
By the same token, D.A. Brad Fenocchio is equally corrupt and it's naive and foolish to think the Placer County District Attorney would do anything about Brown Act violations. And it's only a misdemeanor anyway.
What's really needed is to get the federal department of justice to investigate what passes for "politics as usual" in Placer County in the context of organized crime! And then the FBI would be involved...
The Placer County District Attorney seemingly does not believe in the Brown Act. In 2009 the Granite Bay MAC violated the Brown act multiple times. A group of residents filed a complaint. The District Attorney simply did not respond to several of the violations listed in our complaint and gave a simple white wash to the one he did address. In that one he interviewed only the accused and did not view a video of the incident claiming he could not find it while the accused and everyone else involved knew exactly where to find it. So much for justice.