Brown Act Allegations
Letter from Marin CTY OFC of the DISTRICT ATTORNEY
June 11, 2009
Dear Ross Valley Community and Staff,
I have received a response from Inspector Michael P. McBride with
the Marin County District Attorney’s Office who investigated the
May 7, 2009, accusations of Brown Act violations made by former
trustee Jeanne Thompson. I have published the response in its
entirety for you to read. As you will read, the investigation did
not determine that a Brown Act violation had occurred or that there
was any wrong doing.
There are several recommendations within the response. One
recommendation is regarding closed session minutes. At our board
meeting on May 21st we had a discussion about closed session
meeting minutes. Our district’s attorney, Noel Shumway, was in
attendance at that meeting and was able to answer several questions
about closed session meeting minutes. Mr. Shumway reported that in
the 200+ districts his firm represents he is not aware of any
district that takes minutes in their closed sessions and that they
in fact recommend against taking minutes, but that there is an
option to keep a closed session minutes book, which would remain
confidential, if a board wished to keep minutes. The Ross Valley
School District board does not have a history of taking closed
session minutes in the last 15+ years that I have been involved
with the district (or prior to that time that I am aware of) and it
has never been an issue previously. All closed session ‘actions’ or
‘no action’ are reported out in open session and are recorded in
the minutes of that open session portion of the meeting. Our board
has committed to reviewing our discussions at the end of each
closed session to continue ensuring that we report out our actions,
or to report out ‘no action taken.’
A second recommendation from the report is that the board should
attend a Brown Act workshop. We will plan a Brown Act workshop to
take place in the next few months. I am committed to ensuring that
we continue to do everything possible to adhere to all Brown Act
regulations. I have personally taken many workshops about the Brown
Act, one as recently as April 1, 2009, along with other trustees
and the superintendent. It is important for all trustees and key
staff to keep up to date on these regulations, as there have been
changes to the requirements in the last several years.
Sharon Sagar
Ross Valley School District Board President
