Planning Commission Revisits Disclosure Procedures

By Jorge Casuso

Oct. 20 -- In an effort to stem lobbying on proposed development projects, the Planning Commission last week took steps to assure that that all correspondence is made available to every commissioner as well as the public.

The new guidelines -- which include indicating on the agenda that all communication will be disclosed and made part of the public record -- come after commissioners worried that interested parties, particularly developers, were trying to sway votes and receive input outside the public hearing.

"As more and more projects come before us, and there's more and more dollars involved in each one of them, many interests in the city go to the significant expense to try to communicate with us and try to influence our decision," Commissioner Jay Johnson said at Wednesday meeting.

"It's a thin line between saying, 'That's a good project,' and, 'What do you think of my project?'" said Johnson, who placed the item on the agenda more than a year ago. "From general support to specific consideration, it's a fine line."

Although there was no general change in policy proposed, the commissioners directed staff to add wording at the end of the agendas advising that all correspondence -- including emails -- would be made part of the public record.

The commission also directed staff to draft a regulation requiring commissioners to submit to staff any correspondence they receive. Staff would then make the information available to the other commissioners and to the public.

"We need a clear process for receiving and logging and distributing information and what we can and cannot say," said Commissioner Arlene Hopkins. "We can receive information, but we cannot give direction to a project.

"We want to make sure we are following the Brown Act and are properly above board," Hopkins added. "We want to make sure that we're not put in the situation where the applicant expects us to give them direction."

Deputy City Attorney Barry Rosenbaum cautioned that applicants and members of the public have a right to express their views, but that commissioners cannot express their position on quasi-judicial issues outside of the public hearing.

"We cannot say, 'You (applicants and the public) cannot provide a written response to the staff report," said Rosenbaum, who handles land use issues for the City. "There's a balancing here."

But he added that there is "a basis for invalidating decisions" when "your views on the project have been crystallized."