SOUNDING OFF:Affordable housing resolution violates Brown Act

It has been a long time since I have put pen to paper and submitted a letter to the Daily Pilot, but I cannot let go of what transpired at the July 24 City Council meeting.

What has really disturbed me since that evening was item S23 on the consent calendar.

Item S23 (the ‘S’ means it was completed after the regular agenda was posted) was “Affordable Housing Implementation Plan and Memorandum of Understanding — Santa Barbara Condominiums.”

The action was to adopt Resolution No. 2005-55 approving the affordable housing implementation plan, and to approve a memo of understanding. At first glance it looks pretty innocuous until you get into the nitty gritty of the staff report, and that is where the problem comes in — problem being the violation of the Brown Act. The violation as I see it was that the agenda did not describe item S23 in such a fashion that the public, could read the agenda item and determine from the description whether or not to go to the council meeting to testify.

Who would have thought after reading S23 on the agenda that the city was to receive $5 million from Lennar Homes as a public benefit to the city!

That is probably the most money I can remember the city receiving, yet there was no hoopla.

We received $5 million, plus $5 million more for Crystal Cove Cottage Restoration which will garner $2.5 million more in park in lieu fees and we, the public, didn’t even see it coming. Placing it on the consent calendar added more insult to injury, with another hit to the public chin by Mayor Pro Tem Ed Selich’s motion to take the $5 million which was destined for our general fund and give it to Newport Center Park and then prioritize any remainder money to Back Bay View Park, Marina Park and Sunset Ridge Park.

What happened to the tier-one priority list they established at their March 24 weekend meeting where the council emphasized the need to provide for parks “with an emphasis on active and water-oriented facilities where appropriate”?

Considering the fact that none of the money from Lennar has yet to make it into the general fund, the City Council basically approved borrowing $5 million from the general fund without an agenda item and without involving or noticing the public.

Brown Act violations like these happen in other cities on a daily basis. Do we want it here?

We just elected six council members who took an oath to uphold the Constitution and laws of the federal government and the Constitution and laws of the state government, California, which include Government Code Section 54950- 54952 and begins as stated below:

“54950. In enacting this chapter, the Legislature finds and declares that the public commissions, boards and councils and the other public agencies in this state exist to aid in the conduct of the people’s business. It is the intent of the law that their actions be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly. The people of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies which serve them. ... The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.”

Perhaps in the future we need to place Section 54950 on our agenda so none of us forget why we are here and make it comparable to a Pledge of Allegiance to the public.

is a resident of Newport Beach.