The Brown Act is a good thing for citizens of California

Regarding Mike Morgan’s letter urging repeal of the Brown Act from June 13:

Here is the Brown Act in it’s entirety, just seven pages, and not very dense: www.lahc.edu/studentservices/aso/brown_act.pdf

Before the Brown Act, now 64 years old, governmental meetings were notorious for the “smoke-filled room” kind of meetings where the public was forbidden entry. All kinds of nefarious deals were cut, and decisions were made with no public input. Although not perfect, the Brown Act is a good thing for the citizens of California.

The problems raised by my friend appear to be ones of failure to control the meetings under the provisions of the act. Reasonable time limits on comments are allowed, and non-agenda issues are limited. Perhaps the councils, boards and committees should revamp their commentary rules and enforce them. We can’t afford to throw out the Brown baby with the trolls’ bathwater.

This story was originally published June 22, 2017 at 3:40 PM with the headline "The Brown Act is a good thing for citizens of California."