At a special meeting called to order at 5:34 p.m., the Vallejo City Council announced it would meet in closed session to discuss two real property negotiations — 301 Farragut Avenue and 126 Ohio Street — and anticipated litigation, the city attorney said.

The council’s city attorney recited the closed-session authorities and items, saying, “The council will meet this evening in closed session with regard to the following items.” The attorney cited Government Code section 54956.8 for both property negotiations and Government Code section 54956.9(d)(2) for anticipated litigation.

Why it matters: Closed sessions under those Government Code sections allow the council to negotiate price and terms for real property subleases and to confer with legal counsel about significant exposure to litigation, topics that are not discussed in public.

Details announced at the meeting list the agency negotiator for the two property items as Gillian Hain, assistant city manager. For 301 Farragut Avenue, the negotiating parties named were Jamila Hanif (Watch Me Grow Inc.) and Ulysses Zatarian (Tech Exchange); the council was told that the item concerns “price and terms of payment of sublease.” For 126 Ohio Street, the negotiating party named was Shay Mills for the House of Acts; the listed negotiation topic was “price and terms of payment.”

The council opened a public-comment clock for the closed-session items and invited speakers to sign up at a kiosk or raise their hands online. The city clerk reported no in-person speakers and the online queue was empty. Mayor Soarscribe then said, “With that, as long as we don't have any speakers, we will go ahead and adjourn in a closed session.” The council moved into closed session; no public deliberations on those items were recorded in the public portion of the meeting.

What was not decided publicly: The meeting record shows only that the council announced the closed-session topics and adjourned into closed session; no public votes, agreements, or outcomes on the negotiations or litigation were made or recorded in the open portion of the meeting.

The council cited Government Code section 54956.8 (real property negotiations) and Government Code section 54956.9(d)(2) (anticipated litigation) as the legal bases for closing the session.