Inquiry Sought Into Oxnard Council Action

The chairwoman of an Oxnard neighborhood group has asked Dist. Atty. Michael Bradbury to investigate the City Council for a possible violation of state open meeting laws.

The complaint, filed last week by Eleanor Branthoover, chairwoman of the Rio Lindo Neighborhood Council, questions whether the City Council violated the Brown Act during a May 8 meeting to consider a General Plan amendment for a 77-acre development near Oxnard Boulevard and Gonzales Road.

The council voted 3 to 2 to approve the amendment, which paves the way for final approval of the Warmington Homes project. Mayor Nao Takasugi and council members Manuel Lopez and Dorothy Maron supported the amendment, while Ann Johs and Geraldine (Gerry) Furr opposed it.

Branthoover said she suspects that three council members discussed the matter in a private conference room during a recess of the May 8 meeting.

In essence, the Brown Act prohibits the majority of a policy-making government body to discuss public matters behind closed doors.

In an interview, Branthoover said she was suspicious because she said it seemed the council could not reach a consensus on the project until after it returned from a recess called by Takasugi. During the recess, Branthoover said she saw Takasugi, Lopez and Maron go into a conference room behind the council chambers.

City Atty. Gary Gillig said he was present when the council members went into the conference room, but he said the members did not discuss the Warmington project.

“I personally didn’t observe any Brown Act violation during that recess,” he said.

In an interview Monday, Lopez said the project was not discussed during the recess.

A spokeswoman for Bradbury said the matter has been turned over to Special Assistant Dist. Atty. Donald Coleman, who was unavailable for comment Monday.

The council’s decision on the Warmington Homes development was blasted last week by Citizens to Protect Oxnard, a grass-roots slow-growth group, which has been a long-time critic of the project.

In a May 18 letter to the council, Scott Weiss, chairman of the organization, criticized the city for providing no public notification for a May 8 meeting on the project.

“It seems clear that there should be a notice for each hearing,” Weiss said.

City Clerk Mabi Plisky said the city is required by state law to publish a notification for every public hearing but is not required to publish a notice every time a public hearing is continued. She said the May 8 meeting was a continuation of a previous hearing, which had been advertised in a local newspaper.