Citizen Brown
Quirk in Oakland open-government law lets "strong mayor" off the hook

By Matthew Hirsch

By not faulting Oakland mayor Jerry Brown for slipping a proposal to the Oakland City Council's Finance Committee without first making it available for public review, the city's Public Ethics Commission called into question how Brown, now the "strong mayor" of Oakland, is covered by its Sunshine Ordinance.

The commission decided Mar. 18 that the section of the Sunshine Ordinance requiring city officials to submit documents 10 days before a public meeting doesn't apply to Brown because he isn't part of a local government body.

The Oakland mayor had been in essence a member of the city council until Brown's "strong mayor" initiative won voter approval in 1998 and again last month. Does this mean the public no longer has a right to know what's going on in the Oakland Mayor's Office?

Oakland Public Ethics Commission executive director Daniel Purnell told the Bay Guardian the mayor is still covered under some provisions of the city's Sunshine Ordinance. He said the commission would address the uncertainty about the ordinance as it applies to Brown at a future meeting.

Oakland city attorney John Russo, who in 1997 introduced the Sunshine Ordinance as a city council member, told us an exemption for Brown is inconsistent with the spirit of the ordinance. Russo said he would send the Ethics Commission a proposal to make sure what Brown did with the Finance Committee doesn't happen again.

"When the mayor brings something to council, I think it should be in the packet [and made public before the meeting]," he said.

P.S. The Sunshine Ordinance Task Force concludes its review of the Sunshine Ordinance Wed/7, 5 p.m., City Hall, Room 406, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl., S.F. The task force is expected to recommend a series of amendments for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to place on the November ballot. Once the supervisors take up the Sunshine amendments, they can approve the task force recommendations or make revisions as they see fit. Four votes are needed to send the recommendations to the voters. See proposed changes to the Sunshine Ordinance at www.sfgov.org/sunshine or contact task force administrator Donna Hall at (415) 554-7724.

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