Councilmember Rod Brewer admits the Elk Grove City Council violates the Brown Act

Tucked in the over four hours of the Sacramento Zoo relocation project hearing during the May 8 Elk Grove City Council meeting was a moment of glibness by one city council member. That glibness revealed the practices employed by Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen and some of her councilmen.

During that meeting, Councilmember Rod Brewer took exceptions that he was not notified about a proposal from Councilmember Kevin Spease. The comments by Brewer and then the reaction by Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen show some of the city council members are violating the Ralph M. Brown Act which governs public meeting in California.  

After hearing Spease's proposal on financing on for the Sacramento Zoo project, Brewer said he felt sideswiped for not hearing the proposal before the meeting.  Brewer said he was "pissed" about Spease's suggestions. Brewer demanded that he should have been told about Spease's intentions, a violation of the Brown Act. 

"This is the first I heard of it tonight. If I'd known about it couple of weeks ago, or a week ago, or on Saturday I could have digested it, but this is the first I heard of it," Brewer said. 

Recognizing Brewer violated the Brown Act, Singh-Allen spoke over her protege, saying, "We have Brown Act issues that prevent us from having that conversation." At the same time, Spease also attempted to say before being interrupted that he was not allowed to discuss such matters.

See the entire exchange in the video. 

Brewer's commentary shows he and other council members are discussing official matters, like the massive $300 million zoo project outside of public hearings. So much for ensuring a fair and transparent governing process.