The
In the analogous context of open meeting
laws, a distinction has been drawn between personnel matters, which may be,
but are not required to be, discussed in sessions closed to the public, and
salaries, which must be
discussed in open session.
The Brown Act serves the same democratic
purposes as the
The Brown Act permits but doesn’t demand a closed session for the consideration
of “the appointment, employment, evaluation of performance, discipline, or
dismissal of a public employee. Accordingly,
the San Diego Union case held that the Brown Act permitted but did not
require a city council to discuss, in closed session, the performance of
various city management employees, but
that any discussion or decision about salary increases for those employees must
take place in open session. The court rejected the argument that
salary fell within the exception for discussions of “employment” or “evaluation
of performance” because an employee’s salary was a term and condition of the
employee’s continued employment and closely related to performance.
“Salaries and other terms of
compensation constitute municipal budgetary matters of substantial public
interest warranting open discussion and eventual electoral ratification.
Public visibility breeds public awareness which in turn fosters public
activism, politically and subtly encouraging the governmental entity to permit
public participation in the discussion process. It is difficult to
imagine a more critical time for public scrutiny of its governmental
decision-making process than when the latter is determining how it shall spend
public funds.”
The only portion of the Act that
addresses public employee compensation directly is the section which provides
that “every employment contract between a local agency and any public official
or public employee is a public record which is not subject to” the exemptions
specified in sections 6254 and 6255. This statute indicates that the
Legislature viewed the amount of compensation paid to public employees in the
context of employment contracts as a matter of public interest so substantial
that it could not be outweighed by any claim of privacy or other public
interests.
It is time
to open the doors and flood the bargaining table with light so we, the people,
can be informed and not give up rights through atrophy.
Barry Allen -- Executive Director
Vanguardians -- 501(c)3
Publisher of Vanguard Weekly News
www.vanguardians.org -- 818 745 6770