ENCINITAS — The city of Encinitas says it will re-notice an emergency item responding to recent immigration arrests near a local school, calling the action a “cure” for allegations that the City Council violated California’s open-meeting law during an emergency session last month.
In a Sept. 3 letter obtained by The Coast News, special counsel Leslie Devaney wrote that the council’s Aug. 20 action complied with the Brown Act because the item was added to the agenda under the state law’s emergency provisions.
Devaney denied the council violated the law, saying the arrests, including one involving a parent of an Encinitas student, created “panic and fear” in the community and met the legal threshold for an emergency designation. However, Devaney wrote that the city will re-notice the item for later this month in an effort to address the alleged Brown Act violations outlined in the complaint.
“Due to the importance of this matter, given the City’s goal to provide the ability of all persons to know about, and discuss, these issues as required under the Brown Act, and the fact that there are still citizens who wish to weigh in and receive information on this topic, the City will notice the same matter for Sept. 17 with 72 hours’ notice,” Devaney wrote. “The City considers the (upcoming) hearing to be a cure for any Brown Act allegations.”
The special counsel’s response came after Cardiff-by-the-Sea resident Garvin Walsh filed a complaint accusing the council of failing to give proper notice and demanding it “cure and correct” the vote. Walsh, a county Republican Party official, argued the council acted unlawfully and denied residents a fair chance to weigh in.
The Aug. 27 complaint alleges that the council improperly attempted to invoke the Brown Act’s “immediate need” exception, which requires a two-thirds vote finding that immediate action is required and proof that the need arose after the agenda was posted.
Mayor Bruce Ehlers recently told The Coast News that he believes the council has “wide latitude” in determining what constitutes an emergency and didn’t think city leaders had “overstepped our bounds.”
The controversy arose following a series of Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests in Encinitas last month, including one captured on video near Park Dale Lane Elementary School, that drew protests and criticism from residents and local officials.
Two days later, agents arrested two more men working for a landscaping company in the same area. The arrests were “targeted enforcement operations” of individuals under final orders of removal, according to ICE officials.
Protesters later filled City Hall, carrying signs and chanting against deportations. Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer described the ICE operations as “ambushes” that endangered children, while Deputy Mayor Joy Lyndes called the arrests “traumatizing” for the community.
During a special meeting on Aug. 20, the council voted unanimously on an emergency item to pursue eight actions in response, including launching a bilingual “know your rights” campaign, requesting federal records of ICE activity and exploring legal challenges.
After receiving Walsh’s complaint, the Encinitas City Council met in closed session Sept. 2 and voted unanimously to direct special counsel to respond to the cure-and-correct demand letter and to place the item on the Sept. 17 council agenda for continued discussion, a city spokesperson confirmed.
“Our action in closed session was to ‘cure’ the (alleged) violation by re-noticing the item for a future meeting,” Lyndes told The Coast News. “This action addresses the alleged procedural defect while maintaining the initial emergency position. This approach gives the public the opportunity to speak to this under a regular agenda item, and for the City Council to consider potential action.”
The city’s response stops short of meeting all the demands outlined in Walsh’s letter, declining to walk back the series of emergency actions approved by the council. It remains unclear whether further legal action will follow. In his letter, Walsh said that if the city does not address the issue within 30 days, he plans to pursue legal action, including a writ of mandate, injunctive relief and potential claims under federal law.
Walsh could not be reached for comment.
The Coast News contacted the city for further clarification on the letter and will update the story with additional information.
UPDATE: This story has been updated to include a quote from Deputy Mayor Joy Lyndes. Garvin Walsh has provided op-ed submissions to The Coast News and has no employment or financial relationship with the publication.
