Snippets from the March 28, 2017 Board of Supervisors meeting. Not only did they (Chairman Howard and Supervisor Hemmingsen) deny free speech to two people from the public, but CAO Jay Sarina also admitted that the prior action of the previous board meeting to vote Lori Cowan in as an alternate on the Washington DC trip (3-2) was a violation of the Brown Act.
We have three supervisers. That are in the belief that a board of supervisers (policy) trumps the calif bill of rights, the brown act, and the first amend of our Constitution.wtf!that’s DEPLORABLE!
It should be noted although there was a Brown Act violation on the March 14th meeting the board “cured and corrected” it by placing Lori Cowan’s Washington DC issue on the March 28th agenda. However, the county counsel and two board members Hemmingsen and Howard are seriously incorrect to state that free speech has limitations.
It is a no-brainer that you have the right to speak out against each Public Official who is elected to governmental body. When people elected them into office they did not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they maintain control over the very people they have elected. New York Times. v. Sullivan.
Currently Orange County has the backing of ACLU for this very issue and it is in the courts as we speak. But our freedom of speech is not the only thing to worry about. There are continuous Brown Act violations occurring at each and every meeting because you have a Chair Howard who, approves budget transfers, appointments, and other actions without public discussion or input.
This is a great injustice to our county, and explains why there is a lack of monitoring and oversight because most people work in the day when these meetings are held and it is probably to prevent the public’s input as well as knowing what is really going on. just an opinion.