Two complaints filed against the city...

Two complaints filed against the city of Newport Beach in 2001 and

2002 have been dropped by the Orange County district attorney’s

office, contrary to the Jan. 3 Daily Pilot article “Brown Act

violation uncertain.”

That article incorrectly reported that one of two complaints that

the city violated the spirit of state open-meeting laws was still

pending, when the matter had been closed in the fall.

City leaders consider the district attorney’s dismissing the

complaint significant because that action clears the city of any

official charges that it violated either the letter or the spirit of

the state law commonly known as the Brown Act.

That act requires that most government decision-making be

conducted in a public forum, with exceptions for real estate

negotiations, for some personnel matters and for pending litigation.

Leaders of the Greenlight Committee had charged that two city

actions were in conflict with the objectives of that law.

In November 2001, Greenlight leaders asked the district attorney

to examine whether meetings between city officials and

representatives of the Koll and the Conexant companies were.

In July 2002, the Greenlight Committee asked the district

attorney’s office to consider whether the city’s closed-session

decision to hire airport lobbyists constituted a violation of the

Brown Act.

The district attorney’s decision supports the city’s position that

it acted appropriately in both matters.

An obituary that ran Tuesday misspelled the last name of David

John Curtin. The corrected version can be found on Page A4 today.

The hometown for a letter writer on Tuesday’s forum page was

incorrect. James D. Daily lives in Newport Beach.

A news brief on Tuesday incorrectly described the status of two

ficus trees on Main Street in Balboa Village.

The one in front of the pharmacy will be removed and stored for

future replanting at a location to be determined. The ficus tree in

front of the Balboa Inn will remain where it is.