Terry Francke – a widely recognized expert on First Amendment issues and open government laws – will be speaking at the Pavilion by the Lake on Wednesday, October 4th at 7 p.m. The presentation is open to the public at no charge.
Francke will speak on the need for openness and transparency in local government – with a focus on the City of Atascadero – on the requirements of the Brown Act and the California Public Records Act, and how anyone from a newbie to a seasoned journalist can increase their effectiveness in opening up government to the people, including a chance to ask questions on specific alleged violations of the acts by Atascadero officials and city staff.
Terry Francke – Californians Aware General Counsel – has been training journalists, public officials and citizens in open government law since 1980. He drafted what became the 1994 revisions to the Brown Act and is also the author of a model local government "sunshine" law that provides more transparency than state laws' minimum requirements. He is the author of The CalAware Guide to Open Meetings in California.
It is time for a meeting of the Atascadero Homeowners Association, not just a routine meeting, but a very special meeting. This important event will be held on Wednesday, October 4th, at 7:00PM, in the Atascadero Lake Pavilion.
Our beloved community is facing a crisis of leadership, and it is important, indeed vital, that we meet to learn more about the threatening situation and how we, as ordinary citizens, may fight back. Our speaker will be Terry Francke, an attorney with the California First Amendment Coalition, Californians Aware and author of "CalAware Guide to Open Meetings in California". Mr. Francke, a recognized expert on legal matters related to governmental openness and full disclosure, will explain how Atascadero's leaders may have broken the law and will answer questions about how best we may stop such illegal actions. A period of questions and answers will follow attorney Francke's presentation of the Brown Act and the California Public Records Act.
What is the nature of the present crisis? We have never expected that all actions of our City leaders would please a majority of homeowners, but we have known what decisions were contemplated. In the past we were given a chance to protest or suggest alternative courses of action.
Now it appears our City Council has been subverting our rights by holding closed sessions on more issues than are permitted by law. Thus they have been keeping us in the dark about what they plan to do and denying us our right to express an opinion, much less protest. This is in direct violation of the Brown Act, a California law which guarantees citizens the right to speak in open meetings for or against proposed actions.
By discussing in closed session the process of eminent domain on the property of Pat and Sue Gaughan, and attempting to pressure them into selling their property to Kelly Gearheart for less than it was worth, the Council violated the Brown Act. Later, Karen Velie, an investigative reporter for the New Times, was denied access to public records relating to this matter – a direct violation of the California Public Records Act.
In a similar secret deal, Bob Kelly (not Bob Kelley the planning commissioner) was allegedly forced to sell a piece of property to developers known as The Rottman Group, who were trying to attract a Super Wal-Mart to the north end of town. Recent leaked e-mails between city staff, the city manager Wade McKinney, the assistant city manager Jim Lewis, past-council member Wendy Scalise and the Rottman Group reveal that Mr. Kelly was threatend with loss of access to his property if he didn't sell to the Rottman Group. Mr Kelly had planned for four to five commercial tenants, including Jamba Juice and Starbucks. The Rottman Group insisted that they needed Kelly's property for their "one tenant" who would require all 26 acres.
A number of people, including Councilman George Luna, provided e-mails to news reporter Karen Velie. When questions regarding these e-mails arose it was discovered that e-mails had been purged from city records. This action amounts to destroying evidence, a felony. Perhaps our leaders are not only self-serving and disregarding of the needs of their constituents, but criminals as well.
When the Brown Act was passed it was known as the Sunshine Law. The Sunshine Law is being obscured by clouds of secrecy at City Hall. We must break through them and restore the light of open, straightforward government to our community. We urge you to come to the meeting on October 4th and learn how we may do so.