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Public commenters accuse National City officials of irregularities in handling claimant's letter; call for records
Summary
Multiple public commenters alleged that a claimant's letter was not filed or processed properly, raised Brown Act and Public Records Act concerns, and said they would pursue records; the council moved into closed session to discuss the matter and litigation but made no public findings in the transcript.
Public commenters at a National City special council meeting alleged procedural irregularities in how a letter from claimant Josie Flores Clark was submitted and placed on the special meeting agenda.
Maria Severson said the letter was dated Aug. 26 and was addressed to Mayor Ron Morrison, not the city clerk, and that the document lacked required filing details such as original signature and delivery information. "The letter was submitted to Mayor Morrison. It does not say city clerk," Severson said, and she announced a public records request to learn how the item reached the agenda.
Michael Aguirre accused council members of "colluding" with the claimant and alleged retaliation against people exercising public comment rights; he also said he had been served with 177 pages of evidence related to compliance with the Public Records Act. "You may have violated the constitution and the open meeting law," one commenter told the council, referencing the Brown Act and state open-meeting rules.
Other commenters asked why pages in the meeting packet were redacted and whether the redactions were lawful; at least one speaker invoked the Ralph M. Brown Act during their remarks. Several speakers urged the council and city attorney to follow the law, produce records, and ensure the claims process had been followed; one urged an audit and internal-controls review.
The council then entered closed session to discuss anticipated litigation (item 5.2) and a claimant (item 5.3); the transcript contains no public report of closed-session outcomes or decisions.
Next steps: commenters said they will pursue public-records requests and other remedies; the transcript does not record whether the city complied or provided records during the meeting.
