Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

The people must be heard every day

Former councilman Ralph Inzunza didn't like public comment on Mondays

San Diego residents will soon be given an opportunity to speak on non-agenda issues at every city-council hearing, as California's open-meeting law intended.

During a January 13 hearing, city councilmembers are expected to approve adding non-agenda public comment at the end of Monday meetings, putting an end to a 13-year policy of only allowing comment at the beginning of their Tuesday meetings.

The policy was the brainchild of former city councilmember Ralph Inzunza, who thought public comment dragged out meetings and forced residents wishing to speak on specific items to wait for hours so, as he put it, so a "small group of public speakers...who speak day after day on the same topic and seek no specific action from the Council..." could comment. To work around the Brown Act, the council consolidated the two weekly hearings into one larger hearing. Technically, public comment was still allowed but not during the Monday half of the meeting.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Since 2001, the policy went largely unnoticed until Craig Sherman, an attorney for the non-profit Center for Local Government Accountability, filed a lawsuit challenging it.

"The Brown Act specifically requires an opportunity for non-agenda public comment for each meeting and agenda of a local agency such as the city council," read Sherman's lawsuit. Soon after filing, city attorney Jan Goldsmith met with Sherman and brokered a deal. The agreement was that Sherman would put the lawsuit on hold to give time for Goldsmith to approach council.

In an October 2014 memo, Goldsmith warned that the city was on somewhat shaky legal ground if the case moved forward.

"...it can be argued that the Council is charged...with ensuring 'the intent' of the Brown Act's provision for public comment 'is carried out.' This provision must be 'broadly construed' in favor of greater public access. Creating a two-day consolidated meeting in order to limit access, the argument would go, does not carry out a law that is intended to facilitate access. What's more, the argument would continue, if the council wants to protect other speakers, it could schedule public comments at the end of the agenda."

The new policy calls for public comment to occur at the end of the Monday hearing and beginning of Tuesday's hearing. While a three-minute time allotment is typically provided for public comment, residents will be given two minutes.

The council hearing begins at 9 a.m. on Tuesday inside council chambers.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Big swordfish, big marlin, and big money

Trout opener at Santee Lakes

San Diego residents will soon be given an opportunity to speak on non-agenda issues at every city-council hearing, as California's open-meeting law intended.

During a January 13 hearing, city councilmembers are expected to approve adding non-agenda public comment at the end of Monday meetings, putting an end to a 13-year policy of only allowing comment at the beginning of their Tuesday meetings.

The policy was the brainchild of former city councilmember Ralph Inzunza, who thought public comment dragged out meetings and forced residents wishing to speak on specific items to wait for hours so, as he put it, so a "small group of public speakers...who speak day after day on the same topic and seek no specific action from the Council..." could comment. To work around the Brown Act, the council consolidated the two weekly hearings into one larger hearing. Technically, public comment was still allowed but not during the Monday half of the meeting.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Since 2001, the policy went largely unnoticed until Craig Sherman, an attorney for the non-profit Center for Local Government Accountability, filed a lawsuit challenging it.

"The Brown Act specifically requires an opportunity for non-agenda public comment for each meeting and agenda of a local agency such as the city council," read Sherman's lawsuit. Soon after filing, city attorney Jan Goldsmith met with Sherman and brokered a deal. The agreement was that Sherman would put the lawsuit on hold to give time for Goldsmith to approach council.

In an October 2014 memo, Goldsmith warned that the city was on somewhat shaky legal ground if the case moved forward.

"...it can be argued that the Council is charged...with ensuring 'the intent' of the Brown Act's provision for public comment 'is carried out.' This provision must be 'broadly construed' in favor of greater public access. Creating a two-day consolidated meeting in order to limit access, the argument would go, does not carry out a law that is intended to facilitate access. What's more, the argument would continue, if the council wants to protect other speakers, it could schedule public comments at the end of the agenda."

The new policy calls for public comment to occur at the end of the Monday hearing and beginning of Tuesday's hearing. While a three-minute time allotment is typically provided for public comment, residents will be given two minutes.

The council hearing begins at 9 a.m. on Tuesday inside council chambers.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Domestic disturbance at the home of Mayor Gloria and partner

Home Sweet Homeless?
Next Article

Wild Wild Wets, Todo Mundo, Creepy Creeps, Laura Cantrell, Graham Nancarrow

Rock, Latin reggae, and country music in Little Italy, Oceanside, Carlsbad, Harbor Island
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader