Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutSupplemental Communication from David Phillips Closed Session1 Gloria Harper From:David Philips <davidphilips@mac.com> Sent:Saturday, April 11, 2020 6:11 PM To:Jill Ingram; Gloria Harper Cc:Joe Kalmick Subject:External Email : Closed sessions Ms. Ingram, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Council, thank you for your service. You have a tough job. Regarding Ms. Ingram’s reference to open meetings law exceptions, every exception to open meetings law has a public purpose. It seems to me that the purpose of Government Code Section 54957(a), when it allows the Council to keep secret its preparations and plans to defend the City from threats, is because if made public that information could be used to defeat the City in some way. Unless I am missing something, this is unlikely to be the case when the threat is coming from a virus. The actions the City is considering to defend against the virus should be publicly discussed, for the best good of everyone. And also so the best decisions are made. With warm regards, David David Philips PE 231 6th Street Seal Beach, CA 90740 davidphilips@mac.com 562-252-2235 On Apr 6, 2020, at 12:37 PM, Jill Ingram <jingram@sealbeachca.gov> wrote: Mr. Philips, thank you for your input that you provided in your email below, and will be forwarded by our City Clerk to the entire Council prior to their Special Council meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, April 7th, at 4:30 p.m. After reading your comments, it appears you may be misunderstanding the City Council’s intent regarding their meeting schedule moving forward. The City Council will be continuing with its regular open meetings scheduled on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. In the other weeks, the City Council will conduct closed session briefings on the evolving threats to public services and facilities and the City’s responses, as permitted by Government Code Section 54957(a) and, as necessary, open session meetings to deal with other business items. As I mentioned above, the City Council will meet tomorrow, and there is an open session to consider an urgency ordinance relating to a temporary residential and commercial tenant eviction ban. All open sessions are audio-recorded and uploaded to the City website, and the public still has the ability to provide email public comments that are provided to the Council prior the each meeting. The City Council and staff are very cognizant and work very closely with our city attorney to ensure we are complying with all requirements of California’s open meeting laws (as modified by Governor Newsom’s Executive Orders), and we will continue to follow those laws carefully. 2 Please let me know if you have any additional questions or concerns. Also, please check our website regularly for timely updates and resources, including our “Ask City Hall” feature that was recently added as an additional resource to residents during this very difficult time. Sincerely, Jill R. Ingram, ICMA-CM City Manager City of Seal Beach - 211 Eighth Street, Seal Beach, CA 90740 (562) 431-2527, Ext. 1300   <image001.jpg> <image002.jpg> Civility Principles: 1. Treat everyone courteously; 2. Listen to others respectfully; 3. Exercise self-control; 4. Give open-minded consideration to all viewpoints; 5. Focus on the issues and avoid personalizing debate; and, 6. Embrace respectful disagreement and dissent as democratic rights, inherent components of an inclusive public process, and tools for forging sound decisions. For Information about Seal Beach, please see our city website: www.sealbeachca.gov NOTICE: This communication may contain privileged or other confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient of this communication, or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this communication to the intended recipient, please advise the sender by reply email and immediately delete the message and any attachments without copying or disclosing the contents. Thank you. From: David Philips <davidphilips@mac.com> Date: April 3, 2020 at 10:49:12 AM PDT To: Gloria Harper <gharper@sealbeachca.gov> Cc: Susan Philips <famphilips@me.com> Subject: External Email : Closed sessions It is difficult for me to understand how you can meet weekly as a council in closed session and restrict yourself to only discussing topics that are legally permitted. It doesn’t seem humanly possible. Does the city attorney interrupt you when you begin to discuss public business? Mr. Kalmick is quoted in the paper as saying it’s “too cumbersome to set up teleconferencing” with the public. Yes. However City Council meetings have been broadcast over local TV in the past. That combined with accepting email comments would seem to be a straightforward way to hold a non-secret meeting and to receive public comment as well. Thank you for your care and hard work, David Philips 231 6th 562-252-2235 Sent from my iPhone CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe. 3 CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.