Council Meets in Private on Coliseum Issue

Ignoring their attorney’s advice that the session was illegal, Los Angeles City Council members huddled behind closed doors Friday to hear a progress report on talks to line up private management of the Coliseum.

Just before the closed session began, City Councilman Ernani Bernardi walked out in protest, declaring that the impending meeting violated the state’s open meeting law, known as the Ralph M. Brown Act.

Senior Assistant City Atty. George Buchanan was also ejected from the meeting by Council President John Ferraro after unsuccessfully warning Ferraro and other council members about the Brown Act.

“Mr. Buchanan doesn’t want to be party to the violation” of the Brown Act, said Ferraro after excusing the attorney. Ferraro had earlier defended the decision to meet behind closed doors, insisting--despite Buchanan--that the session could legally be held.

Warnings Ignored

Buchanan and Bernardi were followed moments later by Assistant City Atty. Thomas Bonaventura--adviser to the Coliseum Commission--after the council ignored his warnings as well. The council then met for about 10 minutes with Coliseum General Manager Joel Ralph and City Administrative Officer Keith Comrie without a lawyer present.

Later, in public session, the council, as a member of the joint powers authority running the Coliseum and Sports Arena complex, gave final approval for the eventual move to private management of the two facilities. Several council members told The Times that no new information had been discussed in the private session.

Friday’s episode was a rare instance in which the City Council ignored the advice of its lawyers. Even rarer was the council’s move into a private session despite legal advice that doing so would violate the state’s open meeting law.

Council Fireworks

Prompting the council fireworks were the ongoing negotiations between the Coliseum Commission and MCA Inc.-Spectacor, the business partnership seeking to take over the management of the Coliseum and the Sports Arena.

Because the negotiations are still under way, Coliseum officials told the council that they could not publicly disclose specifics of the bargaining points. But then Bonaventura said the council could not legally meet behind closed doors because the Brown Act did not apply to what he said was essentially Coliseum Commission business. He said the commission, not the council, would ultimately act on any management contract.

The Brown Act requires public agencies to meet in open session when discussing virtually any topic. The only exceptions are discussions involving pending litigation, personnel matters or contract talks.

“I will try answering as many questions as I feel comfortable in doing so,” Bonaventura said. “But as the legal adviser to the Coliseum Commission, I also have an attorney-client relationship there and at some point I may be unable to answer.”

To council members used to having their way when they want information, Bonaventura’s comments presented a kind of Catch-22. In order to endorse the negotiations, members wanted precise details of what was being discussed. At the same time, Bonaventura was telling them that they could neither be briefed in open session nor legally convene in secret to receive the details.

Council President Ferraro, calling the situation “silly,” overrode both Bonaventura and Buchanan. He said that because Councilman Gilbert Lindsay is a Coliseum Commissioner and Councilman Robert Farrell was an alternate commissioner on the negotiating committee, the council was within its rights to demand negotiating details.

“It isn’t a violation of the Brown Act,” Ferraro said as Bernardi left the chambers. “I rule it isn’t a violation of the Brown Act.”

In recent months, the council’s executive sessions--as the private meetings are known--were punctured by leaks of sensitive information to the press. The resulting disclosures prompted angry council members to hold open sessions later, ironically, over the advice Buchanan and others in the city attorney’s office.