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NCRA - Brown Act Violations re: Ukiah Train Depot
Author: Mitsy, ESQ
Date: 01-08-2009 - 12:23
Demand to Cure Brown Act Violations by the North Coast Railroad Authority
For more information, contact:
Friends of the Eel River: David Keller (707) 763-9336, dkeller@eelriver.org
Attorney: Andrew Packard (707)763-7227, Info@PackardLawOffices.com
Petaluma: Today, a coalition of environmental and community organizations in California’s North Coast and Bay Area – Friends of the Eel River, Environmental Protection Information Center, Humboldt Baykeeper - filed a letter protesting multiple violations of the California public meeting laws – the Brown Act – by the Board of Directors of the North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA).
At a regular meeting of the NCRA Board of Directors held in Petaluma on December 10, 2008, the NCRA voted to approve an Agreement to borrow money from the privately-owned Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company (NWP) and to use NCRA’s Ukiah Depot and surrounding 10 acres of publicly-owned land as collateral against the loan of some $1,675,000, repayable within 5 years at 8% interest.
This meeting was held, and the action taken, without properly identifying this proposed action in their agenda for the interested public. The posted agenda did not identify this action item with a title that adequately described the actions taken; the posted agenda and Board Packet, available online for the public, was missing the page of the original Amendment document that mentioned the collateralization of the Ukiah Depot and 10 acres for a private loan to NCRA; the action taken by the Board of NCRA was ultimately to approve an entirely different document than the original Amendment that was posted and then distributed to the public in writing at the start of the meeting as if it was the item under consideration; the actual Agreement voted upon was only supplied to the public on demand of David Keller during the public comment period held after the Board had already discussed it and called for a vote, depriving the public of the opportunity to read, understand and comment upon the Agreement.
Neither the general public, who as the citizens and taxpayers of California established and own NCRA and its property, nor the City of Ukiah, who has specific plans for ultimate development and use of the Depot and the surrounding 10 acres, nor adjacent property owners or existing tenants, nor CalTrans, who provides public funds for NCRA, were properly notified of this significant proposed action in advance of the meeting, due to the above mentioned failures to properly notify.
We feel that on issues of such great financial, political and environmental importance to the North Bay and North Coast regions of California, it is imperative that taxpayers, the general public, and the affected stakeholder public agencies have a full opportunity to provide opinions and suggestions to the Board of Directors of NCRA before it signs any such agreement. It is essential that the public’s business be conducted in public.
This Board of Directors of NCRA denied this opportunity for the public and other stakeholders.
We hope that this Board of Directors will find that it is in the community’s best interests to rehear this matter in a well- and properly- noticed meeting, giving the public and stakeholders the chance to speak on these critical issues.
We are looking to NCRA to have a full and open discussion of the relevant issues involved in collateralizing public property for a private debt, including:
- a clear legal opinion from CalTrans and the California Attorney General’s office that this action is in fact legal and proper for NCRA to take, and that the collateralization of public property for private debt is within NCRA’s legal authority to do. It appears that NCRA is not authorized to pledge or hypothecate the public assets it owns to secure its financial obligations to a private party, nor is it apparently authorized to borrow monies from private sources.
- providing a feasible and reasonably likely repayment and amortization schedule and evidence of an adequate funding stream such that public ownership of the Ukiah Depot and 10 acres is not put in jeopardy of transfer to a private entity (NWP) if there was a default by NCRA in full or in part;
- full legal property description of the proposed collateralized public lands;
- current professional real estate appraisal of the Ukiah Depot and 10 acres, or any other public property proposed for collateralization, in advance of any loan agreement;
- full discussion with the City of Ukiah regarding future intended uses and developments of the Ukiah Depot and surrounding 10 acres, and the impacts of possible private ownership if NCRA would default on all or part of the proposed loan
We strongly believe that these matters warrant the strictest adherence to the letter and spirit of the Brown Act’s unambiguous mandate that public officials’ actions “be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly.” (Gov. Code §54950).
For more information, contact:
Friends of the Eel River: David Keller (707) 763-9336, dkeller@eelriver.org
Attorney: Andrew Packard (707)763-7227, Info@PackardLawOffices.com
Petaluma: Today, a coalition of environmental and community organizations in California’s North Coast and Bay Area – Friends of the Eel River, Environmental Protection Information Center, Humboldt Baykeeper - filed a letter protesting multiple violations of the California public meeting laws – the Brown Act – by the Board of Directors of the North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA).
At a regular meeting of the NCRA Board of Directors held in Petaluma on December 10, 2008, the NCRA voted to approve an Agreement to borrow money from the privately-owned Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company (NWP) and to use NCRA’s Ukiah Depot and surrounding 10 acres of publicly-owned land as collateral against the loan of some $1,675,000, repayable within 5 years at 8% interest.
This meeting was held, and the action taken, without properly identifying this proposed action in their agenda for the interested public. The posted agenda did not identify this action item with a title that adequately described the actions taken; the posted agenda and Board Packet, available online for the public, was missing the page of the original Amendment document that mentioned the collateralization of the Ukiah Depot and 10 acres for a private loan to NCRA; the action taken by the Board of NCRA was ultimately to approve an entirely different document than the original Amendment that was posted and then distributed to the public in writing at the start of the meeting as if it was the item under consideration; the actual Agreement voted upon was only supplied to the public on demand of David Keller during the public comment period held after the Board had already discussed it and called for a vote, depriving the public of the opportunity to read, understand and comment upon the Agreement.
Neither the general public, who as the citizens and taxpayers of California established and own NCRA and its property, nor the City of Ukiah, who has specific plans for ultimate development and use of the Depot and the surrounding 10 acres, nor adjacent property owners or existing tenants, nor CalTrans, who provides public funds for NCRA, were properly notified of this significant proposed action in advance of the meeting, due to the above mentioned failures to properly notify.
We feel that on issues of such great financial, political and environmental importance to the North Bay and North Coast regions of California, it is imperative that taxpayers, the general public, and the affected stakeholder public agencies have a full opportunity to provide opinions and suggestions to the Board of Directors of NCRA before it signs any such agreement. It is essential that the public’s business be conducted in public.
This Board of Directors of NCRA denied this opportunity for the public and other stakeholders.
We hope that this Board of Directors will find that it is in the community’s best interests to rehear this matter in a well- and properly- noticed meeting, giving the public and stakeholders the chance to speak on these critical issues.
We are looking to NCRA to have a full and open discussion of the relevant issues involved in collateralizing public property for a private debt, including:
- a clear legal opinion from CalTrans and the California Attorney General’s office that this action is in fact legal and proper for NCRA to take, and that the collateralization of public property for private debt is within NCRA’s legal authority to do. It appears that NCRA is not authorized to pledge or hypothecate the public assets it owns to secure its financial obligations to a private party, nor is it apparently authorized to borrow monies from private sources.
- providing a feasible and reasonably likely repayment and amortization schedule and evidence of an adequate funding stream such that public ownership of the Ukiah Depot and 10 acres is not put in jeopardy of transfer to a private entity (NWP) if there was a default by NCRA in full or in part;
- full legal property description of the proposed collateralized public lands;
- current professional real estate appraisal of the Ukiah Depot and 10 acres, or any other public property proposed for collateralization, in advance of any loan agreement;
- full discussion with the City of Ukiah regarding future intended uses and developments of the Ukiah Depot and surrounding 10 acres, and the impacts of possible private ownership if NCRA would default on all or part of the proposed loan
We strongly believe that these matters warrant the strictest adherence to the letter and spirit of the Brown Act’s unambiguous mandate that public officials’ actions “be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly.” (Gov. Code §54950).
NCRA - Brown Act Violations re: Ukiah Train Depot