Planners End Private Biweekly Meetings

The Thousand Oaks Planning Commission has ended one of its long-standing procedural traditions, a biweekly meeting that some had complained might violate the law governing open public meetings.

For years, the commission’s chairperson and vice chairperson met in private with city planners hours before each commission meeting, reviewing scheduled agenda matters and looking for any information that might be missing from staff reports.

But Commissioner Linda Parks had often criticized the meetings as violating at least the intent, if not the letter, of the Brown Act, a state law requiring public governing bodies to conduct most of their business in full view of the public. After discussing the matter in a study session last week, the commission decided to end the practice.

“We don’t want to even give the impression of a violation of the Brown Act,” said commission Chairman Forrest Frields.

Assistant City Atty. Nancy Schreiner said the meetings, usually held early Monday mornings, did not violate the Brown Act because the two commissioners present did not deliberate on the cases before the full commission had met.

“They’re not discussing the issues that are part of the meeting,” she said. “That, to me, is not deliberation.”

Parks said that during her tenure as vice chairwoman, new information on pending cases would often appear first at the morning meetings. The commissioners not present would not see such new information until that evening, during the full commission meeting.

“The idea that there’s information not going to all commissioners--that’s what I object to,” she said. “It’s so important that we have all the same information.”

Frields said he found the morning meetings helpful. He may bring them back, he said, if he finds that the full commission meetings do not run as well without them.

“If it seems to be a problem, then we’ll reinstitute them,” he said.