Carlsbad council adjourns into closed session to discuss litigation and police labor negotiations

The Carlsbad City Council recessed into closed session during its meeting to discuss three items: an existing lawsuit identified as Servan v. City of Carlsbad, whether to initiate litigation in one additional case, and labor negotiations with the Carlsbad Police Management Association.

A city staff member read the closed-session items aloud, saying the first item was to meet with legal counsel regarding the existing litigation Servan v. City of Carlsbad and that the closed-session authority cited was Government Code Section 54956.9 (referenced in the transcript as “Subdivision D1”). The staff member also read a second item to meet with legal counsel to consider whether to initiate litigation in one case; that second closed-session citation appeared in the transcript as Government Code Section 54956.9 (referenced as “Subdivision D4”).

The third item listed was a meeting with labor negotiators concerning the Carlsbad Police Management Association. The transcript named the city’s negotiators who were to attend closed session: Judy von Kalinowski, human resources director; Jennifer True, assistant city attorney; Debbie Porter, senior management analyst; Tim Davis of the law firm Burke, Williams & Sorensen; and additional members of the negotiating team Christy Calderwood, police chief; Sheila Cobian, assistant city manager; Laura Rocha, deputy city manager of administrative services; and Zach Koresh, finance director.

The record shows a council member asked that the meeting be taken into closed session; no formal public roll-call vote on the motion is recorded in the transcript excerpt. The meeting then proceeded to closed session.

No public discussion of the merits of the litigation or the substance of the labor negotiations appears in the provided transcript excerpt. The council’s announcement identified only the topics to be discussed in closed session and the staff and outside counsel who would participate.