By Kathleen Acuff
 Lear |
Ex-councilman King Lear threatens legal action against the Los Altos City Council, contending members violated state law by arranging for a majority vote prior to meetings this year and last in which they denied local teens’ requests for a Gay Pride Day proclamation.
Lear specifically accused Councilman David Casas of violating Section 54952.2(b) of the Brown Act, California law intended to prevent secret negotiations of public matters. Making an exception for videoconferencing, the section prohibits a majority of a governing body from using “direct communication, personal intermediaries or technological devices … to develop a collective concurrence as to action to be taken on an item.”
In last week’s council meeting, Casas said Lear’s allegations against him were “unfounded and irrational.”
He added, “Unfortunately, King’s intolerance of those he disagrees with is clearly evident in his recent actions. I want to convey my full faith in the ethical foundations of the current council.”
Casas, Councilman Kurt Colehower and Mayor Ron Packard voted last month to prohibit all proclamations of Gay Pride Day. In a written complaint to the five-member council March 7, Lear accused Casas of arranging for a majority vote with Packard’s “understanding.”
Lear stated that he will file a formal complaint with the Santa Clara County Office of the District Attorney, to which he sent a copy of his original complaint, if the council does not “correct” the action or “conduct what I would consider an adequate investigation” by April 6.
Packard reported that the council voted 5-0 in the closed session before the regular meeting to “write a letter to Mr. Lear saying his allegations are unfounded.”
District Attorney Christopher Arriola, president of the Santa Clara County Bar Association, wrote in an opinion piece in the March 8 San Jose Mercury News that the council’s action “may have violated” the equal-protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He told the Town Crier March 13 that he does not “necessarily see why” the DA’s office would investigate the matter. Chief Assistant District Attorney Karyn Sinunu did not return the Town Crier’s phone call by press time.
Lear’s complaint states that last year, before the March 8, 2005, meeting in which the request by the Gay-Straight Alliance of Los Altos High School was denied in a 3-2 vote, “Casas contacted (Councilman) John Moss to prearrange a crucial third vote.” Lear added that this year, before the Feb. 14 meeting, “Casas repeated the tactic of enlisting a third vote by soliciting the support of Kurt Colehower prior to the public meeting.”
Lear appended to his complaint a printout of an e-mail exchange that Casas had forwarded to City Clerk Susan Kitchens in which Casas sought and received Colehower’s support in placing on the Feb. 14 agenda a proposed revision of the council’s proclamation policy. Matters for possible council consideration require the support of two members before they can be placed on an agenda if they do not need staff documentation and of three members if they do.
In a signed statement last Tuesday, Packard stated that since his election in 2004, he has “diligently attempted to comply with all aspects of the Brown Act, particularly not speaking to more than one councilmember on any subject prior to the council meeting.”
The first and last time the council issued a proclamation for Gay Pride Day was in 2004, when councilmembers, at Lear’s request, amended the proclamation for Tolerance Day they had issued in lieu of students’ original request.
Neither Lear nor Packard returned the Town Crier’s phone calls by press time.
