SAN BERNARDINO - Councilwoman Wendy McCammack on Tuesday again charged that some City Council members broke the state's public meeting law by making a decision in private.

She said Tuesday morning she is intent upon reporting her allegations to the District Attorney's Office.

"I'm working on those details as we speak," she said.

McCammack, who represents the 7th Ward, first made her accusation at Monday's council meeting during an intense debate over how the council should select one of its own to a leadership position.

She charged that some council members violated the Ralph M. Brown Act, which says the public's business must be conducted in public, by deciding beforehand to elect 6th Ward Councilman Rikke Van Johnson mayor pro tem with the authority to decide committee assignments for council members, such as the budget, personnel or law enforcement panels.

On Tuesday, other city officials expressed disbelief at McCammack's accusations.

When viewed in the context of recent San Bernardino politics, the tone of the controversy reflects continued divisions relating to the Operation Phoenix initiative, but 3rd Ward Councilman Tobin Brinker said that's not the whole story.

On Tuesday, Brinker said he's wanted to change the way the council chooses its own leadership for more than a year.

"This has been an ongoing dispute. It's not new," he said.

In a telephone interview Tuesday, McCammack accused 2nd Ward Councilman Dennis Baxter, Brinker, 5th Ward Councilman Chas Kelley and Johnson of improperly coming to an agreement before Monday's meeting.

She also suggested that Mayor Pat Morris could have helped shepherd an agreement before Monday's open meeting.

Johnson and Baxter could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Brinker, Kelley and Jim Morris, the mayor's son and chief of staff, asserted there were no illegal conversations.

McCammack acknowledged her allegations would be difficult to prove without a confession.

Asked why she is convinced state law was broken, she said "you knew straight up. Based on their conversation."

The Brown Act prohibits a majority of council members from meeting out of the public eye to settle official business. The law makes it illegal for politicians to meet in a proverbial back room or to reach an agreement through a series of communications.

Brinker said Tuesday he has talked about the issue off and on for the past year, but merely repeated views he had previously expressed in open meetings. He said he did not lobby council members before Monday's meeting.

The issue at the center of the controversy is Brinker's proposal to have the council elect one of its own to serve as mayor pro tempore for one year, with power to decide which of the seven council members are assigned to which city committees.

That power is vested in the position of the senior council member. That position is now held by 1st Ward Councilwoman Esther Estrada and would have been eliminated if the council approved Brinker's idea.

But the council did not make a decision Monday. Instead, it accepted Johnson's suggestion to delay the issue until Oct. 20 after City Attorney James F. Penman reported that Brinker's proposal was not properly written.

Jim Morris acknowledged that the mayor spoke with Brinker about the leadership proposal. He also said the mayor had provided some information to other council members, but was unable to name who those members were.

"It's not like he had some substantive conversation," Jim Morris said.