ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : Meetings of Supervisors in Secret Draw Fire : Accountability: Other government bodies follow suit in crisis. The law is unclear; some say actions heighten public’s fears.

Starting well before dawn Monday, the County Board of Supervisors set a new record for meeting secretly in a single day: 12 hours.

Then on Tuesday, after Orange County sought bankruptcy protection and the financial crisis made national headlines, the supervisors huddled again for nearly five hours--behind closed doors.

Again on Wednesday and Thursday--in the midst of what has become the worst financial debacle in the county’s history--the supervisors, city managers and city attorneys, school trustees and the massive Transportation Corridor Agencies board members all held separate meetings to ponder the crisis. Once again, all over the county, the public was excluded.

Finally, on Thursday, a frustrated Stephen Johnson of Tustin could take it no longer. Johnson, 48, a lawyer, leaped to his feet and shouted at the supervisors, his words ringing throughout the tense Hall of Administration boardroom.

“You can’t hide behind your lawyers forever!” Johnson screamed at the board members, who ignored his pleas. “Sooner or later you’re going to have to come out here and face the people and admit your lack of leadership in this matter!”

Laguna Beach City Manager Kenneth Frank, who attended closed-door meetings Wednesday and Thursday, said that as bothersome as these sessions may be to the public, this is the only way business can be conducted sometimes.

“These are basically staff meetings, which give us a chance to be briefed by the county,” Frank said. “There is really no requirement for city managers to invite newspapers and the public to our meetings. . . . I guess we could just meet in the Coliseum and invite the whole county.”

But meetings attended by elected officials, such as supervisors and school district trustees, are a different matter.

Generally, according to California’s Ralph M. Brown Act, adopted in 1953, a governing body such as a board of supervisors or city council must meet publicly except under four specific circumstances: To discuss personnel issues, pending litigation, labor negotiations or real estate negotiations.

But the act is clouded by many exceptions, said Matt Ross, a spokesman for the state attorney general’s office.

“The code is virtually impossible to interpret and every situation is different,” Ross said. “There are no hard and fast rules and there isn’t a quick and easy guide to it.”

Orange County’s five supervisors have been advised by their attorneys not to talk about potential litigation that might arise from the bankruptcy.

But throughout the crisis, board members have consistently made themselves available to reporters after the meetings.

“This board has been very, very committed to the fact that we stay within the regulations,” said board Chairman Thomas F. Riley, adding that there has been no attempt to bypass the public.

Riley said that any actions taken in closed session--but not details of the discussions--are promptly disclosed.

“This has been very difficult for all of us,” Riley said.

Joel Fox, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., said the supervisors are probably meeting behind closed doors for good reason, “because they don’t want people to be afraid.”

“However, it’s having the opposite effect. It’s leading to fear because people don’t know what’s going on,” Fox said.

Others are more critical.

Ruth Holton, executive director of California Common Cause, said the supervisors’ meetings should be open so people can watch how dramatic decisions are being made.

“Meeting in secrecy isolates elected officials and gives the impression that they are making decisions solely to benefit themselves,” Holton said. “In the end, it behooves them to be accountable. . . . After all, they are dealing with Orange County’s financial future.”

San Juan Capistrano rancher Tom Rogers, a longtime adversary of county officials over fiscal matters and founder of Citizens Against Unfair Taxation, called the secrecy typical Orange County politics.

“The citizens go down to that boardroom and we are treated like dumbbells,” said Rogers, who has crusaded for eight years against such things as Measure M, which raised local sales taxes 1/2 cent for transportation projects. “These guys are like a private club. There are the ins, and then there are the rest of us--the outs.”

Times staff writer H. G. Reza contributed to this story.