Trustees must release vote on new president, two attorneys say

April 14--In its final decision on choosing a new president, the Board of Trustees apparently violated California's public meeting law by withholding the formal vote tally.

Two of the state's most prominent media access attorneys confirmed the board violated the Ralph Brown Act, which requires all votes taken by a publicly elected body-even if taken in private-to be reported to the public at large.

"The public has a right to know who voted which way," said Terry Francke, general counsel member of California Aware, a center for open-forum rights. Francke added that votes, whether preliminary or final, must be made public.

In a routine follow-up of the board's decision, The Channels interviewed three trustees. All declined to provide the tally of their final vote. In a closed session, they did say they took two "straw votes" -non-binding votes-to see where they stood. These straw votes were not unanimous, longtime Trustee Dr. Kathryn Alexander said.

The group then "worked toward a consensus" in deciding to appoint Dr. Andreea Serban to the position. They also reached "consensus" on negotiating her contract.

None of those actions have been disclosed so far.

Under the Brown Act, the board is required to report any action taken in closed sessions. Jim Ewert, legal counsel for the California Newspaper Publisher Association, said, according to the law, "an action taken is broadly defined as collective concurrence, a collective commitment, or a promise by a majority of the members."

He added that straw votes are not recognized by the Brown Act.

Even if the board is permitted to meet privately, under government code section 54953 subdivision C of the Brown Act, "no legislative body shall take action by secret ballot whether preliminary or final."

Francke added that straw votes must also be made public.

"They're unlawful to begin with," Francke said.

Trustee President Desmond O'Neill told the Channels that the board had made these two preliminary votes, but no record of them was taken.

"The votes were taken to point out the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate," said trustee Luis Villegas.

During a special meeting on April 3, a motion was made from the board to choose a candidate to move into contract negotiation with. The motion was passed, but the vote was not reported.

"By failure to do so, they violated the act," Ewert said.

Sue Ehrlich, vice president of legal affairs, told The Channels she was "evaluating" the request to get the formal president vote.

The board picked Serban over two other candidates, include Dr. Jack Friedlander, executive vice president of Educational Programs.

On Thursday, the board approved Serban's contract, which included a $215,000 annual salary plus moving and travel expenses.