{"id":354253,"date":"2026-06-10T05:32:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T05:32:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/354253\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T05:32:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T05:32:17","slug":"county-supervisors-fail-to-advance-transparency-measure-after-deadlock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/354253\/","title":{"rendered":"County supervisors fail to advance transparency measure after deadlock"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0A deadlocked San Diego County Board of Supervisors<\/a> failed to advance a transparency measure to end the practice of creating ad-hoc subcommittees with little public insight or knowledge on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Supervisors Joel Anderson and Jim Desmond voted in favor of Anderson\u2019s proposal, while their colleagues Paloma Aguirre and Monica Montgomery Steppe were opposed.<\/p>\n

Board Chair Terra Lawson-Remer was absent from Tuesday\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n

The measure will return to the board on June 25, unless the item is moved to another date.<\/p>\n

Montgomery Steppe raised concerns about possible public safety and privacy issues for some who appear at ad-hoc subcommittee meetings<\/a>, such as family members who spoke at one focusing on juvenile justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we create the same rules for different situations, then we will not have as robust policy discussions that we should have and owe the public,\u201d the board vice chair explained. Montgomery Steppe said she didn\u2019t realize the possibility of retaliation until the juvenile justice ad-hoc committee began its work.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes you don\u2019t know where you end up going when you start,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Anderson said it was possible to have a more open process while also making sure residents were protected. \u201cI\u2019ve made my best pitch \u2014 if you have to vote no, I certainly understand it,\u201d he responded. However, he added: \u201cWe say we\u2019re for transparency, and then we find all the reasons under the sun not be transparent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anderson recently claimed that the board has used secret committee meetings in the past to conduct important public business behind closed doors.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood government happens in the sunshine,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cSan Diego County residents should not have to wonder where major policy decisions are being shaped. If these subcommittees are helping develop policies that impact millions of taxpayer dollars and the daily lives of our residents, the public deserves the opportunity to see that process, follow it, and participate in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The proposal follows discussion regarding subcommittees that have met \u201cwithout publicly posted agendas, minutes or recordings,\u201d despite influencing significant policy discussions, according to Anderson\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

For example, Lawson-Remer and Montgomery Steppe formed an ac-hoc subcommittee in March after the board voted 4-1 to move forward on overhauling a program that serves residents who can\u2019t afford insurance and don\u2019t qualify for Medi-Cal. The changes would entail adjusting eligibility standards, eliminating lien requirements and reviewing costs.<\/p>\n

The supervisors said the reforms will be presented to the board within 60 days after the fiscal year 2026-27 budget is adopted.<\/p>\n

Anderson\u2019s proposed board policy would require public meeting notices, advance agendas, recordings, minutes and public access to meeting materials through a centralized county website. The proposal would \u201calso establish clear operational standards and accountability measures for all board-created ad hoc subcommittees,\u201d a statement from Anderson said.<\/p>\n

During Tuesday\u2019s meeting, most residents who spoke were in favor of Anderson\u2019s proposal.<\/p>\n

One woman said she had difficulty finding materials from a standing committee meeting focusing on flood control held on April 9 \u201cthat are supposed to be available to the public.\u201d She added that she emailed a county contact requesting the materials, but hasn\u2019t heard back from them.<\/p>\n

Another resident said that along with greater transparency, ad-hoc committee reform \u201cwill create more avenues of public access and public participation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo often, I hear community members say, `You can\u2019t fight the county,\u2019 so they disengage,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter all, no one really wins in a fight. Let\u2019s change that culture from `fight\u2019 to `work\u201d\u2018 to improve the democratic process and residents\u2019 lives, he added.<\/p>\n

Desmond suggested that if county ad-hoc committees are dealing with sensitive material, no one would fault members for clearing a room if needed.<\/p>\n

The proposal presented Tuesday is very reasonable, and \u201cwe\u2019re looking for ways to vote against it,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Aguirre, citing her experience on the juvenile justice ad-hoc committee, said the work focuses not on hiding anything, but on letting family members \u201cspeak their truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such flexibility lets the ad-hoc subcommittee produce information for the Board of Supervisors, said Aguirre, who noted her work with Anderson on a finance-related subcommittee.<\/p>\n

She added that if the process is taking too long, then the subcommittee can be changed into a full one to apply with the Brown Act, a state law that allows for public attendance, participation and recording of local governmental bodies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just think that the way the argument has been presented is a bit of a fallacy,\u201d in terms of a perception that there has been secrecy in the meetings, Aguirre said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0A deadlocked San Diego County Board of Supervisors failed to advance a transparency measure to end the practice…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":292633,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[97144,6185,86619,74,14842,76,75,2684,144431],"class_list":["post-354253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-ad-hoc-subcommittees","tag-county-supervisors","tag-joel-anderson","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-county-board-of-supervisors","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-transparency","tag-transparency-measure"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/292633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}