After nearly 18 months without a permanent chief executive, the commissioners at the Port District of San Diego picked a new leader during a closed session on Nov. 13.
But the port didn’t announce that selection for eight days, when a Nov. 21 news release said current Carlsbad City Manager Scott Chadwick would be the leader of the influential agency that controls what happens on the tidelands of San Diego Bay.
And for more than a week after the announcement, the port refused to reveal what the vote to hire Chadwick was, and how each commissioner voted — which one leading expert on public access law in California said violated the state open meetings law.
The port appears to be relying on the distinction that no vote to “hire” Chadwick was taken at the Nov. 13 meeting. Instead, the commissioners apparently authorized the staff to negotiate a contract with him.
After several inquiries following the closed session meeting, a spokesperson for the port said the “final selection” of the CEO would not happen until the board’s next meeting on Dec. 10.
She said inewsource had to file a public records request for information on the closed session vote. That request is pending.
But then on Monday, the port issued a statement from board Chairman Frank Urtasun, who said the port was not obligated to publicly report the vote after the Nov. 13 selection — but said “in the interest of transparency” he could now say that the vote was unanimous.
His statement echoed the position the port had taken when initially asked: that Chadwick is not formally “hired” until Chadwick accepts a contract and the board votes on it.
Urtasun said that the port did not actually vote to hire Chadwick at the meeting — only directed the staff to begin negotiations.
But that contradicts a section covering closed sessions in the state open meetings law, which plainly states certain closed session votes have to be revealed, and done so on the day the meeting is held.
Read the full article on inewsource.org.
