"These meetings were in violation of California's main sunshine law, the Brown Act, which prohibits discussion or action on proposed legislation - like the encampment policy - by a majority of the council, outside of a public meeting. This provision of the Brown Act is supposed to ensure that no important discussions or decisions impacting the public happen behind closed doors without allowing community members to weigh in."
"According to the city attorney, Council President Kevin Jenkins' chief of staff, Patricia Brooks, held meetings with each councilmember about the policy in recent months. Councilmember Ken Houston was at four of the meetings. Houston and Brooks are the co-authors of a controversial proposal to overhaul how Oakland handles encampments. The proposed policy would allow the city to more aggressively clear homeless camps and RVs, including in cases when the city has no other shelter to offer."
City officials held private meetings that violated California's Brown Act by discussing a proposed homeless encampment policy outside public meetings. Patricia Brooks, chief of staff to Council President Kevin Jenkins, met individually with each councilmember about the proposal, and Councilmember Ken Houston attended four meetings. Brooks and Houston presented a draft proposal and deliberated specific policy considerations, prompting a violation notice dated Sept. 8. The proposal would allow more aggressive clearings of homeless camps and RVs, including when no alternative shelter exists. Houston accepted responsibility for the mistake and is undergoing additional training on the law.
Read at The Oaklandside
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]