MLPA Officials Violate Bagley-Keene Act, First Amendment

MLPA Officials Violate Bagley-Keene Act, First Amendment

by Dan Bacher

A spokesperson for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative on May 13 told David Gurney, an independent journalist who was arrested for filming a public MLPA meeting on April 21, that he can't film "work sessions" of the controversial process.

The refusal of MLPA officials to abide by the provisions of the Bagley Keene Act and the First Amendment has outraged advocates of civil liberties and open government, who contend that the Schwarzenegger administration is trying to suppress dissent and deny reporters their right to record a conflict-infested initiative that MLPA advocates falsely claim is an "open and transparent" process.

"The formal meeting of the NCRSG will be held on Thursday, May 20, 2010 at the Elk Valley Rancheria Community Center, 2332 Howland Hill Road in Crescent City," said Annie Reisewitz, MLPA Initiative Media Relations Liaison. "You are welcome and encouraged to cover the May 20 meeting; as is true with all our meetings, audio recordings and still and video photography are permitted at anytime, including during all the presentations, discussions and public comment."

However, Reisewitz said that Gurney and other journalists will not be able record to record by audio, video and or still photography the proceedings of the "work sessions" the day before at the Hampton Inn & Suites, 100 A Street in Crescent City or on the afternoon of May 20, at the Hampton Inn and the Elk Valley Rancheria.

"As a member of the media you are welcome to attend, observe and take notes during the work sessions," Reisewitz said. "In order to minimize disruptions and to allow stakeholders to freely discuss ideas without fear that preliminary ideas will be taken out of context or incorrectly attributed, we ask that media not use audio, video and still photography while the work sessions are in progress."

She added, "Audio, video and still photography and interviews are permitted at any time in the hallways and other areas outside the work session rooms, in the work session rooms while the work groups are on break, and during periods when the work groups are gathered together in a combined-work group setting. The work groups will report on their efforts and make presentations to the NCRSG during the May 20 meeting."

In a news release announcing the May 19 and 20 meetings, MLPA officials apparently affirmed their "right" to violate laws regarding the conduct and coverage of MLPA meetings, drawing a curious distinction between public meetings and "work sessions."

"Work sessions provide NCRSG members with focused, face-to-face opportunities to pursue their charge of developing alternative MPA proposals. NCRSG work sessions are not formal public meetings and are not videotaped or webcast," the release states. "All work sessions are open to members of the public, who may attend as observers; while there is no formal public comment forum, there are informal opportunities for members of the public to share their perspectives with NCRSG members and MLPA Initiative staff. "

"To help create a 'safe space' for NCRSG members to explore MPA ideas, the public will not be permitted to videotape, audiotape or take pictures of work group discussions during the work sessions. Accredited media interested in covering an NCRSG work session must receive prior permission from the MLPA Initiative media relations team. Contact the media relations team, " the release concludes.

Gurney responded that her attempt to stop coverage of the "work sessions" was a violation of the Bagley-Keene Act and the First Amendment.

"I disagree with your decision to not allow unobtrusive coverage of RSG work sessions, based on unsubstantiated fears," said Gurney. "On the contrary, legitimate recording and press coverage does the opposite of the fears you mention, of ideas taken out of context or incorrectly attributed - because such context and attributions become a matter of record. These violations of the Bagley-Keene Act and the 1st Amendment are illegal."

The MLPAI staff claim that the initiative, funded privately by the shadowy Resource Legacy Fund Foundation, is exempt from open meeting laws. However, newspaper industry and civil liberties attorneys say the restrictions on speech and comment violate the Bagley-Keene Act and probably the California Constitution, according to Frank Hartzell in the Fort Bragg Advocate News on April 29.

"Sorry, they can try to contort themselves however they want, but based on the information they are providing, they are subject to Bagley-Keene," James Ewert, legal counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Association, told Hartzell.

Gurney submitted the formal request to record the upcoming NCRSG public meeting/workshop as a freelance journalist and community programmer with Mendocino Community Television MCTV, Fort Bragg, CA, as a community journalist with KMUD radio in Redway, CA., and as a independent journalist with Jugglestone Productions.

The Bagley-Keene Act of 1967, officially known as the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, implements a provision of the California Constitution which declares that "the meetings of public bodies and the writings of public officials and agencies shall be open to public scrutiny" and explicitly mandates open meetings for California State agencies, boards, and commissions.

The act facilitates accountability and transparency of government activities and protects the rights of citizens to participate in State government deliberations. California's Brown Act of 1953 also protects citizen rights with regard to open meetings at the county and local government level.

In other MLPA news, members of the Kashia Pomo Tribe and other tribes are now banned from their traditional seaweed, abalone and mussel harvesting grounds by the creation of a massive new no-take marine reserve off Stewarts Point in Sonoma County. The reserve is the largest in a network of 21 marine protected areas (MPAs) that took effect on May 1 along California's north central coast under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative.

To mark the final day before the unprecedented closure, tribal leaders held a historic ceremony to bless an area where the Kashia Tribe of Pomo Indians has gathered seaweed, mussel, abalone, clams and fish for centuries. Stewarts Point, called “Danaka” by the tribe, is sacred to the tribe since it is regarded in their creation story as the place where the tribe first stepped on land, according to Eric Wilder, former chair of the Kashia Pomo (http://www.fishsniffer.com/forums/content.php?r=221).

It is clear that MLPA officials, who preside over a process rife with conflicts of interests, mission creep and corruption, have no respect for the rights of indigenous fishermen and seaweed gatherers, the stewards of the ocean for centuries, to sustainably harvest ocean food. Nor do these same MLPLA officials have any respect for the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, the Brown Act or the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

The MLPA Initiative, fast tracked by the worst Governor for fish and the environment in California history, should be suspended while there is a thorough investigation of the process by state and federal authorities targeting the MLPA's many conflicts of interest and violations of state and federal laws.