Council Set to Hire Outside Investigator, Waive Secrecy Rules on Two Closed Sessions
The Town Council is expected to approve a legal services agreement with A.W. Blan Workplace Legal Services to conduct an independent investigation into matters discussed behind closed doors, a step the agenda ties to closed sessions held on May 20 and August 11, 2026.
To let the investigator do the work, the council would also grant a limited waiver of the Brown Act's confidentiality protections under Government Code Section 54963(a) — freeing anyone who attended those closed sessions to talk to the investigator about what was said. The item was pulled from the Sept. 1 agenda and continued to tonight's meeting, a sign it wasn't a simple rubber stamp the first time around.
Staff's recommendation is straightforward: adopt Resolution No. 39/2026 as written. But the underlying reason for the investigation isn't spelled out in the public agenda materials, leaving residents to read between the lines about what happened in those two closed sessions that now warrants an outside inquiry.