Saratoga News

UCAP agrees to open meetings to the public

By Sarah Lombardo

Urban Creek Assessment Project committee meetings are to be open to the public after an agreement between the city of Saratoga and the Santa Clara Valley Water District was reached recently. The water district recently agreed to open the meetings and subject the committee to all the conditions under California's Ralph M. Brown Act, the state's open-meeting law. Anthony Bennetti, general legal counsel for the water district, even drafted a meeting protocol which Saratoga City Attorney Mike Riback shared with the City Council and sent back to the district with comments.

"We've agreed to make some changes," Bennetti said.

Under the Brown Act, agendas for meetings by public agencies must be posted and available to the public at least 72 hours prior to the meeting, which must be open to the public and allow public comment on issues before action is taken on them. The act also requires that a meeting place be freely accessible to the public.

UCAP is a committee formed as part of a settlement agreement between the water district and the Friends of Santa Clara County Creeks and San Francisco Baykeeper. Saratoga officials began questioning whether the committee was violating the Brown Act when a city engineer tried to attend a meeting in 1996 and was turned away.

Riback said litigation against the city made it very important to the city that these meetings be conducted openly.

"The charge of UCAP is to conduct studies relating to the Saratoga Creek," Riback said. "The city was very concerned, because litigation was still in the courts and two of the plaintiffs against the city (in the Saratoga Creek lawsuit) sit on the UCAP committee. The city was concerned for that reason and wanted to know what the committee was doing." The dismissal of that lawsuit is currently in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Riback said that at first, water district officials were reluctant to subject UCAP meetings to the Brown Act, insisting that they weren't legally obligated to open the meetings. But Riback disagreed.

"The committee is being staffed by employees of a public agency, and it appears that it should be meeting in public and letting the public participate," Riback said.

Bennetti said the district eventually agreed to open the meetings, without conceding that UCAP was subject to the Brown Act.

"Rather than argue about whether we have to follow the Brown Act or not, we've agreed to make changes," he said.

Riback said he has yet to receive a final protocol for the UCAP meetings, but should get one soon. Riback added that he hopes the new policy may open more than just meeting-room doors.

"It could lead to better communication if the city is given the opportunity to participate in these meetings," he said. "I think the city will learn more about the concerns of UCAP and the Saratoga Creek."

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