Send by Registered Fax

January 21, 2004

Chair Ralph Rubio, and

Board Members of

AMBAG

Dear Mr. Rubio,

This letter is to call your attention to what I believe were two substantial violations of central and fundamental provisions of the Ralph M. Brown Act, one of which may jeopardize the finality of any actions taken by AMBAG.

1) The nature of one violation is as follows:

Around 6:00 pm on January 14, 2004, AMBAG conducted a meeting of a majority of the Board, called a "workshop" to hear a presentation from staff and to discuss and make recommendations about public participation provisions of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

The "workshop" was wholly out of compliance with the Brown Act because there was no public notice of any kind, including on the posted agenda for the 7:30 meeting, that the matter would be discussed, and there was no finding of fact made by AMBAG that urgent action was necessary on a matter unforeseen at the time the agenda was posted.

2) The nature of another violation preceding that violation is as follows:

At the October meeting on a highly controversial issue, the Board voted to create a subcommittee to do fact finding and report back on recommendations for improving public participation provisions of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. The November meeting was to decide who would be on the committee and what the charge of the committee would be.

In a meeting on an unknown date after the October AMBAG meeting that decision was overturned by (I am informed) staff members and Chair Tony Campos. The decision was turned into an agenda item on the November meeting which said all AMBAG members would be on the "subcommittee" and instead of fact finding staff would make a presentation. This was approved by the AMBAG board at the November meeting.

At 6:00pm of January 14, 2004, the AMBAG Board met to hear the staff presentation described in the first violation described above.

In the event it appears to you that the conduct of AMBAG specified herein did not amount to the taking of action, I call your attention to 1986 amendments to the Brown Act created specific agenda obligations for notifying the public with a "brief description" of each item to be discussed or acted upon, and also created a legal remedy for illegally taking actions, namely the judicial invalidation of them upon proper findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Pursuant to Government Code Section 54960.1, I demand that AMBAG cure and correct the illegally conducted meeting as follows:

1. Apologize to the public for holding a meeting which prevented most of the public from participating -

• By holding a meeting without informing the public with the legally required notice, and
• by failing to prepare an agenda.

2. Make a commitment to never again hold a meeting where the public and the press is not adequately and legally informed in advance so that they can participate -

• By listening to, and
• By commenting on the subject

3. Formally withdrawing the decision made at the November meeting.

4. Rescheduling the agenda item agreed upon by vote at the October Meeting to allow full opportunity for informed comment by members of the public.

5. Provide Brown Act Training Every Year for your Board Members so they will be able to prevent this from occurring again.

As provided by Section 54960.1 you have 30 days from the receipt of this demand to either cure or correct the challenged action or inform me of your decision not to do so. If you fail to cure or correct as demanded, such inaction may leave me no recourse but to seek a judicial invalidation of the challenged action pursuant to Section 54960.1, in which case I would seek the award of court costs and reasonable attorney fees pursuant to Section 54960.5.

Respectfully yours,

S/ David Dilworth, Executive Director
_________________________________________________________________

Copies sent to: Roger Poyner
Joseph T. Francke, Legal Counsel, California First Amendment Coalition

Bill Lockyer, California Attorney General

Monterey & Santa Cruz County Grand Juries

Monterey County Herald

Coast Weekly

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Metro Santa Cruz
Monterey Peninsula League of Women Voters

Search HOPE's Website: