City council to adjourn to closed session to review city attorney performance and discuss labor talks

The Carlsbad City Council announced it would adjourn to a closed session to conduct a performance evaluation of the city attorney and, time permitting, hold a conference with labor negotiators, the city attorney said Thursday.

The city attorney told the council the closed session is authorized under Government Code sections 54957 and 54957.6 and identified the two items for discussion: a public employee performance evaluation (the unrepresented employee is the city attorney) and labor negotiations. "This afternoon, the city council will adjourn to closed session to discuss personnel matters," the city attorney said.

The city named Mayor Keith Blackburn and Council member Carolyn Luna as the city's representatives for the closed-session discussions and said the council will be assisted by Lisonbee Alpert of the law firm Best, Best and Krieger. Before the announcement the clerk completed roll call and confirmed all five council members were present; the clerk also stated there were no public speakers for the meeting's public comment period.

State law generally requires matters discussed under Government Code section 54957 (performance evaluations) and section 54957.6 (labor negotiations) to be handled in closed session. The council indicated the closed session would meet in Conference Room 3 adjacent to the meeting room. The public record in the transcript ends with the council preparing to move into closed session and does not include any confidential deliberations or votes that occurred in that closed session.

No formal motion or public vote to adjourn to closed session is recorded in the available transcript; the clerk verbalized the transition and the city attorney described the topics and statutory basis for the session. The meeting resumed or concluded after the closed session is not recorded in the provided segments.