Milpitas council moves to end evaluation item, orders training after near-miss on unnoted candidate interview

Milpitas — The Milpitas City Council on Oct. 24 reviewed a staff timeline showing how subcommittee scheduling for a city attorney candidate interview briefly risked violating the Brown Act and then voted to remove a planned evaluation of the interim city manager and acting city attorney from upcoming agendas. The council also approved a motion asking Councilmember Chua for a public apology, directing the city manager to bring back training on open-meeting rules and requesting policy recommendations to prevent a recurrence.

City Manager Diana presented a detailed timeline of communications between Aug. 25 and Sept. 5, saying staff intervened after seeing requests that appeared to exclude staff involvement in scheduling. "Had I not intervened ... what happens when a council meets in violation of the Brown Act and a council member faces prosecution," she told the council, describing a tense…