OCC paper takes on student government

Christine Carrillo

Earlier this month, the college’s student newspaper began bombarding

the Associated Students of Orange Coast College Budget Committee with

questions.

At the heart of these questions were allegations that the student

organization violated California’s public meeting laws.

During an investigation, student journalists at the Coast Report

found that the budget committee held three closed meetings in April

and May, during which time they formed recommendations for the

associated students’ board of trustees on how to allocate more than

$700,000 to various campus organizations.

In an article in the May 14 issue, “Closed Meetings Questioned,”

the paper -- led by Coast Report Copy Editor Matt Ballinger and

Editor-in-Chief Mike Billings -- detailed allegations from 1st

Amendment lawyers that the meetings violated the state’s Brown Act.

“My biggest motivation is that this is a law and it seemed like

they didn’t even care it was being broken,” Ballinger said.

The two students said they refused to shy away from what they

believed was the responsibility of the college’s student newspaper to

expose the violation. In what would turn into a larger journalistic

lesson for them, they pushed and probed college administrators,

student representatives and attorneys.

They also published an editorial, “Open The Doors,” in which they

concluded: “Publish an agenda. Open the doors. Desist from the

illegal actions now.”

For Ballinger and Billings, these efforts are just the start.

“We’re not sure where it will go from here,” Billings said. “We’re

seeking a whole structural change of these meetings. What we’re

hoping for is that they hold open meetings and they abide by the

law.”

As stated in California’s Brown Act, committees, “whether

permanent or temporary, decision-making or advisory, created by

charter, ordinance, resolution or formal action of a legislative

body” must must conduct business in a manner that allows the public

to participate in the decisions and actions taken by that body.

Adherence to the Brown Act includes posting the agendas before

meetings and making available all documents used by the committee

during the meetings.

“We obviously don’t want to shut [the student representatives] out

because it’s an important line of communication that we want to keep

open,” Billings said. “We understand that they’re students and

they’re learning -- we are too. But at the same time, that’s part of

it, listening to the public.”

Some of the college’s administrators see a less ethical motivation

for the crusade. They suggest the tenacity of these student

journalists stemmed from the newspapers’ decrease in funding, which

the committee decided during one of its closed meetings, rather than

a sense of duty to the public.

“The real agenda is that the student newspaper took a cut from the

[Associated Student Body], and I believe that their real motive is

they want to know why,” said Gene Farrell, president of the college.

The budget committee recommended that the Coast Report receive

about 75% of what it received last year. The paper would receive

$2,031 instead of $2,708, according to the committee’s

recommendations.

The paper requested $5,000, said Kate Mueller, the college’s dean

of students, who oversees the associated students.

The budget committee received about 55 requests for funds and

allocated about 75% of what each organization received last year,

Mueller added.

“There’s no value judgment on any of those programs,” she said.

“The majority of the programs we funded, including the Coast Report

and [the associated student groups], but some decisions had to be

made ... and they’re going to fund the programs that contribute to

academic success.”

Administrators said the practices that the committee has followed

over the years, to their knowledge, do not violate the Brown Act

because the committee itself is not subject to the law and, they

believe, shouldn’t be.

“We will do whatever we have to do to exempt [the budget

committee] from the Brown Act,” Farrell said. “The reason is to

protect the students because we don’t want our students exposed

publicly by anyone in those deliberations. The students can be pretty

critical and ... they are not treated like they are in the outside

world. We don’t want these students to take that kind of criticism.

We want to give them a taste of it, we want them to grow into it.”

The Coast Report submitted letters last week to the presiding

officers, administration and all members concerned demanding they

take action within 30 days of receiving the notice. The

administration is looking into whether the associated students’

budget committee has violated the Brown Act and plans to take steps

to rectifying that, if that is the case.

“If we’re in violation of the Brown Act, we need to get in

compliance with the Brown Act,” Farrell said. “I think it’s a good

experience for [the Coast Report] and I don’t think it’s a bad

experience for the student body.”

Terry Francke, an attorney with the California 1st Amendment

Coalition interviewed by the Coast Report, was not available for

comment. He told the Coast Report, “This is an obvious case of a

committee that needs to be open.”

Whatever the conclusion, Ballinger and Billings say this

experience has tested more than their professional dedication to

journalism.

“I feel like this was more than a learning experience in

journalism for me,” Billings said. “There were many restless nights

for me, wondering if we were doing the right thing. This was the

first time I’ve had that feeling.”

* CHRISTINE CARRILLO covers education and may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at [email protected].