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Santa Barbara Defends Its Target Store Decision
Meeting Behind Closed Doors Raises Questions
KEYT Reporter
Story Created:
Jul 21, 2010 at 5:46 PM PDT
Story Updated:
Jul 22, 2010 at 11:26 AM PDT
A recent decision by the Santa Barbara City Council, not to negotiate a lease with Target department stores for a local site, was made behind closed doors. Now, some are asking why it wasn't done in a public session with public input, and was it a violation?
The site being considered was on airport property along Hollister Avenue.
Many local shoppers who have been hoping for the store to open have been anticipating a chance to provide their input. "It was in a closed door session and they didn't invite the public and they have to apparently reverse that 7-0 vote as far as I'm concerned," said shopper Rob Gump.
The Brown Act open meeting law says:
"Meetings of public bodies must be open and public. Actions must not be secret. Closed meetings may be held for personnel, pending litigation, labor negotiations, and property negotiations." When it comes to property,the meeting is, " only to discuss, with an agency's identified bargaining agent, price or payment terms. The parcel,negotiators and the prospective seller or purchaser must be identified on the agenda. The final price and payment terms must be disclosed when the actual lease or contract is
discussed for approval."
When asked about the meeting and the possible violation, Santa Barbara City Attorney Steve Wiley says, "This is not a Brown Act violation. A city council can answer the fundamental thresh hold question - do you even want to negotiate with target? And that was the fundamental thresh hold question for our closed session. You can obviously answer the question whether you even want to have negotiations in the first place, before you can go on to talk about the terms, the price and the lease."
There's been quite a bit of demand from some shoppers for a Target store in the Santa Barbara Area. Just the mention of it sparks an interest from shoppers. "We talk about that all the time. And I don't just mean in
our family. I mean a lot of friends and neighbors and stuff because a lot of us go out of town just for that (Target) , said Norma Guevarra while shopping at the Camino Real Marketplace. She was heading into the just opened Ross Dress for Less store.
Shopper Carol Petersen from Solvang said, "Santa Barbara doesn't have any options for that type of shopping and i think it would be nice to have some input in it."
Senior Reporter John Palminteri has our story.
