Oxnard Secret Memos Under Fire : Confidentiality: Councilwoman Ann Johs says most of the reports the council receives from the city attorney should be released to the public.

Saying the city attorney’s office generates too many secret memos, Oxnard Councilwoman Ann Johs suggested Tuesday that the council review the city’s policy on making them public.

Johs, who is seeking reelection in November, said about 90% of the confidential memos the council gets from City Atty. Gary Gillig can be released to the public.

She said she made the proposal because she believes the public needs to have more access to the inner workings of City Hall. “I think we are losing the confidence of the public,” she said.

Johs’ request was supported by Councilwoman Dorothy Maron, who said Gillig recently wrote a memo on campaign reform laws that she believes should never have been considered confidential. Gillig later released an edited version of the report, which said putting limits on campaign spending violates the First Amendment.

Mayor Nao Takasugi and Councilman Manuel Lopez did not address the matter during Tuesday’s council meeting.

Gillig took the week off from work to prepare for an appearance before the state Supreme Court in connection with a previous job and could not be reached for comment, city officials said.

Assistant City Atty. Paula Kimbrell, who was sitting in for Gillig, told the council on Tuesday that she would study Johs’ request and draft a report on the matter for the council’s consideration.

In an interview later, Kimbrell said city policy requires the consent of at least four of the five council members before the city can release a confidential memo to the public.

“We are under a duty to maintain the confidentiality of our client, which in this case is the City Council,” she said.

In an interview after the meeting, Johs said she disagrees with the current policy. “I think it stinks,” she said.

Johs suggested that the city’s policy follow the guidelines of the 1953 Ralph M. Brown Act, which requires governing bodies to meet in public except when discussing litigation matters and personnel issues.

Following the Brown Act, Johs said the city should make public every city-generated document except those that discuss litigation and personnel.

Johs said her complaint was prompted when Gillig wrote a confidential memo to the council a few months ago about state and federal campaign spending laws. The report was in response to a request by Maron, who suggested the council consider voluntary limits on campaign spending.

After the council discussed the memo at a public meeting in June, Gillig agreed to release to the public only the portions of the memo that were discussed by the council.

“That’s absolutely ridiculous,” Johs said. “There was nothing in there that couldn’t have been released.”

Gillig has been the target of criticism lately.

In July, a Ventura County grand jury report accused the Oxnard City Council of violating the Brown Act by holding five or six private meetings last September and October to discuss budget matters.

All five council members said at the time that they met in closed session at Gillig’s advice or with his consent.

At the time, Gillig defended his advice to the council, saying the Ventura district attorney’s office has a much stricter interpretation of the law than other district attorneys in the state.