Suit Accuses School Board of Private Meeting

A lawsuit accuses the Los Angeles Board of Education of violating the Brown Act by privately authorizing Supt. Roy Romer to explore the possibility of opening the Belmont Learning Center or selling the property.

The suit, filed Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court by Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union Local 11, asks that the board’s action be overturned.

The union is seeking representation at the New Otani Hotel, which is owned by Kajima International. A Kajima subsidiary, Kajima Urban Development, is the managing partner of a development company, Temple Beaudry Partners, that was building the school until the board canceled the project.

The board voted in January to abandon the school amid concerns that the presence of explosive methane gas and toxic hydrogen sulfide gas make it unsafe for children.

The Brown Act requires public agencies to conduct their business in public.

In the suit, the union contends that the board discussed and voted to authorize Romer’s actions in a private session. The suit also contends that the vote was taken without adequate public notice.

The board voted 4 to 3 to pursue three options:

* Firms would propose to clean up the property so it would be suitable as a school site.

* Potential buyers would make offers to purchase the land, clean it up, finish the nearly completed school and sell it back to the district.

* The district would simply sell the 35-acre property.