Laguna Beach responds to district attorney’s closed session review

After the Orange County district attorney’s office found there was substantial evidence that violations of the Brown Act may have occurred stemming from a June 29 closed session meeting of the Laguna Beach City Council, the city provided its response on Wednesday.

At a closed session meeting on Tuesday, the council by a 3-2 vote directed Phil Kohn, the city attorney, to send a letter to the district attorney’s office detailing the city’s view on the matter. Council members George Weiss and Toni Iseman cast the dissenting votes.

Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven Schriver, in a letter dated Sept. 21, wrote there were potential violations of the Brown Act by the council with respect to public noticing and in detailing the scope of the matter of the closed session agenda item that related to the Hotel Laguna. It also addressed a violation by Weiss for the disclosure of confidential information following the closed session.

Weiss, who has been adamant in saying that litigation was not discussed in that meeting, was censured by the council on Aug. 10 after admitting to leaking information to environmental advocate Mark Fudge and Paul Freeman, a former Laguna Beach mayor.

In his response, Kohn asserts the information gathered in conducting the initial Brown Act review did not incorporate all sides involved in the situation.

“I explained to the District Attorney that members of the City Council were disappointed on seeing your letters because the source of the information on which your evaluation was made is apparently based largely, if not entirely, on what was related to you by Councilmember George Weiss in his complaint as having transpired at the subject closed session,” Kohn wrote.

Kohn reiterated remarks made by City Manager Shohreh Dupuis last week, when she said that other members of the council, as well as herself and Kohn were not contacted by the district attorney’s office regarding potential Brown Act violations from the closed session meeting.

The city’s response stated that it believes the findings were based on incomplete or inaccurate information. City officials had requested a meeting to provide context and explain the reasoning for the closed session discussion, and it appears that ask will be accommodated.

“We just received a phone call this afternoon from the district attorney’s office,” Dupuis said in a phone interview on Thursday. “They acknowledged that they have received our response letter, and they also granted our request for an extension, and then they are supposed to be contacting us to set up a meeting with me and Phil.”

Kimberly Edds, a spokeswoman for the Orange County District Attorney’s office, confirmed on Thursday that the meeting is in the works and that Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer plans to attend it.

“We appreciate that the district attorney is willing to sit down with our city attorney to understand all of the facts related to this matter and to discuss the appropriate next steps,” Mayor Bob Whalen said in a prepared statement following Tuesday’s special closed session. “I am hopeful that we can resolve this matter promptly and then return all of our focus to making progress on the numerous programs and projects that we are trying to move forward to benefit the city and its residents.”

When Schriver’s letter arrived last week, Weiss called it a victory for transparency. As part of the recommended safeguards, the letter suggested the city record its meetings for six months and retain those recordings for a year.

The implementation of that step might depend on the outcome of the city’s meeting with the district attorney.

Dupuis said the city was proactive in providing a more comprehensive description of closed session agenda items in advance of receiving Schriver’s communication.

“I am confident that this matter will be resolved soon, and I look forward to refocusing our attention to the real issues and policies in town that benefits the community,” Mayor Pro Tem Sue Kempf said. “I hope that in the future, council members are willing to first work together with their colleagues, the city manager and the city attorney on conflicts and diverse issues in lieu of filing complaints against each other.”

Support our coverage by becoming a digital subscriber.