Martinez council holds closed session on anticipated litigation, provides guidance to staff

Mayor Bridal Zorn opened the Martinez City Council meeting on Feb. 18 and announced the council would recess into a closed session to hold a conference with legal counsel concerning anticipated litigation. She told attendees that public comment was limited to that single agenda item and that none were present in the chamber or online.

The clerk conducted roll call before the recess. The clerk read the attendance as Mayor Bridal Zorn, Vice Mayor Satinder Mahle, Council Member Jay Howard and Council Member Greg Young as present; Council Member Debbie McKillop was absent but reported to be on her way.

After a brief recess to the closed session room, the council reconvened and the mayor reported that the closed session had covered one item: a conference with legal counsel regarding anticipated litigation. “We had discussion with our counsel and did provide guidance to staff and the city attorney,” the mayor said. The council did not announce any formal vote or detailed action from the closed session during the report out.

The mayor said the regularly scheduled meeting would reopen at 7:15 p.m. following a five-minute break and apologized for the evening’s delay. The record shows there were no public comments in person or virtually specific to the closed-session item during the initial public-comment call.

No ordinances, resolutions, appointments or other formal actions were reported as taken in open session at the time of the report out.