emergency meeting Archives

by Leslie Layton
posted Jan. 11

A Jan. 6 emergency meeting held by Chico City Council appears to have been illegal – in other words, a violation of the Ralph M. Brown Act that governs meeting access in California.

The Saturday meeting was called on short notice to consider matters “involving the disruption or threatened disruption of public facilities” after the winter sheltering program, Safe Space, held intake at The Hands sculpture near the Municipal Center on Jan. 5. read more

Deceased individual found in Bidwell Park

Chico Police Department said a deceased person was found early today (April 28) at the One Mile Recreation Area.

Chico PD says a passerby noticed a subject seated near the restrooms that appeared to be deceased around 5:30 a.m., and the death was confirmed by medics.

The person’s identity has been withheld pending notification of family members, the press statement says.

Today’s press statement was the fifth “Death in Public” press release this year.

City attorney: “Public take over” was an emergency

In a Jan. 17 email to ChicoSol, City Attorney John Lam said the City was not in violation of the Brown Act when it held a Jan. 6 emergency meeting.

Lam said the use of City property near The Hands sculpture in back of the Municipal Center by the nonprofit Safe Space the previous day had amounted to a “public take over.”

Safe Space, which operates an emergency winter sheltering program, ran intake in the space from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Jan. 5, an operation that it says proceeded smoothly. The group’s leadership said it believed that it was using public property as defined in the City code, and wasn’t required to get special permission.

Tag: emergency meeting

Emergency meeting violates Brown Act "Urgency" and "emergency" different things, attorney says