Opinion: The public’s right to “No.”
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It was a pleasant surprise on Tuesday when the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors rebuffed its lawyer’s attempt to withhold lawsuit settlement information from the public. It was also instructive to closely follow the dialog between County Counsel Raymond G. Fortner Jr., who earlier this year and without telling either the board or the public stopped releasing memos from the county’s Claims Board, and the chief supervisorial thorn in his side, Gloria Molina.
Fortner’s move was reported in the Times July 6, sparking a raised Op-Ed eyebrow from Marc Haefele and, later, a thumbs-up to Molina from the Times’ editorial board. Fortner said at the time that memos from the Claims Board were giving away the store, providing plaintiffs with a road map for suing the county. Molina ordered Fortner to come in Tuesday with an explanation of his decision, and why he made it without consulting the five supervisors. He didn’t have what she wanted. Some annotated highlights:
Molina: ‘Any time there is a change like that, I really would recommend you do it in concert with us.’
Yikes. Molina is being excruciatingly polite when she doesn’t have to be. Translation: Fortner’s in trouble.
Molina: ‘I had asked for examples of what cases or where do you think that providing this kind of information may have hurt us in this litigation? And I didn’t get that as a response.’
Translation: You work for me, not the other way around.
Fortner: ‘Mr. Chairman, Supervisor Molina, I don’t have the case names here, but I asked my staff to put together some of the anecdotal evidence that supports this. For example, a case in which we made an offer to settle that plaintiff’s attorney was aware of another case that he felt based particularly on the Claims Board memo and strategy.’
Translation: You’re not getting anything out of me.
After Molina asks, again, for Fortner to come back to explain his justification for withholding information on settlements from the public:
Fortner: ‘The justification is, it is what it is.’
Molina: ‘Ray, Ray, Ray, Ray, I’m the policy maker here. I’ve asked you for it and you have not given it to me. I need it.’
Four Rays! Not good. Translation (Fortner): You’re not getting anything out of me. (Molina): Can you believe this guy?
Supervisor Michael Antonovich backed Molina when she raised the issue several weeks ago, but the others were silent. This week, though, it was board Chairman Zev Yaroslavsky who (gently) told Fortner he had to start releasing the information to the public again until the board signs off on a compromise. That’s the good news. The bad news is that the board will likely allow Fortner to make whatever presentation he makes, beyond his July 10 memo [pdf], in closed session. So the public will never hear his justification for doing what he did — or the supervisors’, if they ultimately sign on.