DA rebukes Oroville council

Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey told the Oroville City Council Tuesday night (Oct. 16) that five members had violated the Brown Act a second time, and while he wouldn’t prosecute them, he’d consider charges for a third violation.

Ramsey said he’d heard from Clerk-Recorder Candace Grubbs that the five had come together to her office to file a complaint about a voter registration matter. They were Vice Mayor Janet Goodson and council members Jack Berry, Marlene del Rosario, Linda Draper and Art Hatley. Ramsey said he could charge each with a misdemeanor.

The Brown Act, California’s open-meetings law, prohibits a quorum from gathering to take action or make a decision without public notice. In July, those same council members drew a Brown Act complaint for their hasty censuring of Mayor Linda Dahlmeier, prompting another meeting on that vote. (See “Mayor censured … again,” Downstroke, July 26.)