Public kept out of discussion with Billdt

Robert Rogers and Jason Pesick, Staff Writers
Article Launched: 09/14/2008 10:05:52 PM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO - There isn't much California's Ralph M. Brown Act allows city councils to talk about behind closed doors.

And even where the act makes room for exceptions - personnel matters, real-estate transactions and litigation - meeting agendas need to clearly explain what the council is going to talk about in closed session.

The agenda showed a discussion of the safety of public buildings when Police Chief Michael Billdt went before the City Council last week, and tonight's agenda says the same. That's based on an obscure provision one Brown Act expert says has its roots in the sit-ins of the '60s.

"A reference to this provision in the Brown Act is strikingly inappropriate and mystifying," said Terry Francke, founder and general counsel of the open-government organization Californians Aware.

City Attorney James F. Penman said so far there has been no talk about the safety of public buildings.

Following the San Bernardino Police Officers Association's vote of no confidence in Police Chief Michael Billdt Sept. 4, council members wanted to sit down and talk to Billdt about dynamics within the department.

That discussion was expected to take place during a closed-session City Council meeting Tuesday, but the discussion appears to have been put off until tonight's council meeting.

"I'm assuming that we will have a discussion with the chief in closed session Monday night," 7th Ward Councilwoman Wendy McCammack said last week. "I don't think any of the council members have yet to get a handle of the whole chief-POA communication issue."

A discussion of how the department is operating should be open to the public, Francke said.

"If it is essentially a report by a department head about the operations of the department and statements that have been made and rumors about things going on in the department, that's no basis for a closed session at all," he said.

The council could evaluate Billdt's performance in closed session if it were noted on the agenda properly, Francke said.

"If they're doing what I suppose they're doing, they more accurately could have called it an evaluation of performance," he said.

Tonight's agenda notes in the personnel section a discussion of the chief of police, but does not say what the council will discuss or if it will evaluate him.

San Bernardino's last police chief, Garrett Zimmon, left town in a process shrouded in secrecy.

In early 2006, Zimmon was first placed on paid sick leave and later fired, all behind the curtain of closed City Council meetings and laws protecting officers' privacy.

Reports began surfacing in March 2006 that then-Mayor Judith Valles had opted to fire Zimmon and received council support during a closed-session meeting.

When new Mayor Pat Morris announced that Zimmon was officially out, he revealed the details of his compensation package but did not confirm the chief was forced out.

Penman, the city attorney, said when it does come time for the City Council to dig into the issues roiling the Police Department, there is no guarantee that much, or any, of the discourse will occur in front of a scrutinizing public. Instead, under the umbrella of "personnel matters," back and forths between elected officials and the chief of police can occur away from the public eye.

"Under the Peace Officers Bill of Rights, which covers the chief, anything to do with them personnel-wise is confidential. That is interpreted by the courts quite broadly," Penman said.

Talk is already swirling in some quarters of the department that the chief's days are numbered.

Billdt's contract expires in the spring, and top officials quietly say there is no chance of another tour of duty for the 30-plus-year veteran.

Whether he will complete his contract is unknown and could stay that way if city officials decide to deal with Billdt like they did Zimmon - behind closed doors.

Staff writer Andrew Edwards contributed to this report.