Three items were on the Los Alamitos City Council agenda on Monday night regarding actions of the council itself. None of the three came to any conclusion.
Three items were on the Los Alamitos City Council agenda on Monday night regarding actions of the council itself. None of the three came to any conclusion.
The council had discussions regarding official records of closed session meetings, the investigation into possible Brown Act violations of Council members, Gerri Graham-Mejia, Warren Kusumoto and Mayor Troy Edgar, and an investigation into the process of awarding the city’s trash contract.
Records and discussions of council members during a closed session are confidential and not open to public review. While actions that may officially stem from closed session are eventually part of the public decision made by council, the confidentiality is meant to protect issues such as personnel, and litigation matters against the city.
However, it seems that there has been a confidential “red binder,” of records from closed sessions that began in the past, though in recent years, it has not been maintained. Kusumoto requested that a red binder policy be implemented and records be kept of future meetings. Graham-Mejia agreed.
“I think this is something that is essential for the city,” Graham-Mejia said.
But the majority council didn’t agree. Mayor Pro Tem Marilynn Poe wasn’t even aware of the unofficial red binder, neither was City Manager Angie Avery. It was reportedly began some time in the past by a city clerk who wanted it as an internal reminder. Poe argued that this kind of record would defeat the purpose of having a closed session.
“I’m not for this,” Poe said.
Kusumoto said the new policy of keeping closed session records would simply be to have broad notes on what was discussed and not specific recordings what individuals said. Kusumoto said the binder could help future councils repeat mistakes of past council actions.
But Edgar said he thought this was a move to bring more scrutiny on the trash contract. He noted that all the exact actions of the council are already public record and that the move to create an official red binder was another political ploy against the council majority.
“That’s exactly what this is about,” Edgar said.
When the issue came to a vote, it did not pass, with Edgar, Poe and council member Ken Stephens voting against the item.
The second item, a request to investigate whether or not there was a Brown Act violation by Graham-Mejia, Kusumoto and Edgar, resulted in no action. The issue was a conversation Graham had with Edgar and Kusumoto. But since Kusumoto immediately terminated the conversation because he suspected it might be a violation, the issue was considered cured.
Still, Kusumoto asked that the issue be discussed, after Edgar and Graham-Mejia recused themselves from the discussion. But at the recommendation of the staff report, the remaining three council members took no action on it.
“It is no longer a matter because it has been cured,” Poe said.
The third item, a request by Kusumoto for an investigation into the awarding of the trash contract had even less discussion. After Edgar, Stephens and Poe stated that they would be required to recuse themselves as potential subjects of the investigation, the issue was dropped for lack of a quorum.
