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Santa Clara County


DID SANTA CLARA COUNTY VIOLATE STATE LAW WITH CEO APPOINTMENT?

by Tran Nguyen
November 4, 2022November 7, 2022
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Santa Clara County Counsel James Williams is pictured in this file photo.


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Santa Clara County elected leaders apparently violated a state transparency law
when they quietly appointed a new CEO behind closed doors.

The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Oct. 17 to
appoint County Counsel James Williams to the county’s top executive seat during
a closed session meeting, drawing backlash from community leaders over the
secretive process and lack of public engagement. San José Spotlight has found
the board failed to immediately report publicly the vote it took behind closed
doors—a critical requirement of the Brown Act, the state’s sunshine law
requiring public access to government meetings.

The board did not publicly report the action to appoint Williams until two weeks
later. The first public disclosure happened during Tuesday’s board of
supervisors meeting where his employment agreement was approved.

According to the Brown Act, any “action taken to appoint, employ, dismiss,
accept the resignation of, or otherwise affect the employment status of a public
employee in closed session” must be reported at the public meeting during which
the closed session is held.

Since the board held its closed session on Oct. 17, it should have disclosed
Williams’ appointment the next day during the Oct. 18 supervisors meeting.

Yet, Williams said during the public meeting that, “There are no reportable
actions taken at the closed session meeting on Oct. 17,” according to a
recording of the Oct. 18 meeting.

A screenshot of the minutes of Oct. 18 meeting.

David Snyder, executive director of First Amendment Coalition, said there’s no
question the action the board took needed to be publicly reported immediately.

“If the board is appointing somebody to a public position in closed session,
they are required to report that out to the public in the (following) public
meeting,” Snyder, a First Amendment lawyer, told San José Spotlight. “They
didn’t do that, and they appear not to have been in compliance with the Brown
Act.”

The county’s current CEO Jeff Smith, who announced his retirement last week,
confirmed that a closed session vote to appoint a county official should
be reported at the next public meeting. He declined to comment on why this
didn’t happen with Williams’ appointment.

“The issue is what was the board’s intent on the 17th, did they make a final
decision or did they want more information?” Smith told San José Spotlight.
“Nobody was in the meeting except for the board members, so I can’t comment on
whether that was their final decision.” He referred further questions to the
board president, Supervisor Mike Wasserman.

Wasserman did not return requests for comment.

A copy of the Board of Supervisors’ agenda item on Williams’ employment contract
at the Nov. 1 meeting.

Williams told San José Spotlight the action taken in closed session two weeks
ago was only an authorization to meet with him and negotiate his employment
agreement. He said those talks didn’t wrap up until Oct. 31, and the public
disclosure of his appointment was made the next day, Nov. 1.


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But county documents say the board “approved the appointment” during closed
session on Oct. 17—an actionable item that should’ve been disclosed under state
law.

Wasserman even confirmed during Tuesday’s meeting that the board appointed
Williams behind closed doors two weeks ago.

“As president of the board of supervisors, I will report that at the October 17,
2022 closed session, by unanimous vote with all members present, the board of
supervisors appointed you sir, James R. Williams, to be our next county
executive effective upon the vacancy of the office of the county executive by
Dr. Smith,” Wasserman said at the meeting.

Secretive process

Williams’ appointment has ruffled feathers throughout Silicon Valley. Nonprofit
and community leaders this week said they first learned of his appointment
Monday—weeks after the closed session vote. A coalition of more than 30
organizations and leaders signed a letter demanding more transparency and public
involvement in the process. At least one elected official, Assessor Larry Stone,
objected to the secretive hiring process.

Supervisor Susan Ellenberg on Tuesday assured the public the board made “all
personnel decisions regarding any of the board-appointed positions in closed
session in accordance with the Ralph M. Brown Act.” The board voted 4-1 to
approve the employment agreement with Williams, making his promotion official
when Smith retires in July. Supervisor Cindy Chavez was the lone no vote.

After publication, Ellenberg told San José Spotlight that she and the rest of
the board misspoke.

“The language we used—I used—during the November 1 board meeting regrettably was
inaccurate and I take responsibility for the angst this caused,” she said. “I’ve
been meeting with labor, nonprofit and other community leaders throughout the
week to address their concerns and allow for deeper conversation and learning
opportunities moving forward. It is my continued hope this smooth transition in
leadership will ensure our community continues to receive the supports it needs
to thrive.”

According to Snyder, residents can submit a complaint, also known as a “cure and
correct letter,” to the county to require the board to nullify its vote and
revote. If no action is taken with 30 days of the letter, the complainant
could sue the county.

“The county executive is obviously a very important position and the public
should be apprised of who has been appointed to that position at the earliest
possible opportunity,” Snyder said. “In fact, they’re entitled to know that as
soon as the decision is made, and so if that decision were made in closed
session and not reported out, that’d be pretty serious.”

Silicon Valley Minority Business Consortium CEO Walter Wilson, who spoke against
the hiring process at the meeting this week, said he is appalled the county
appears to have violated state law with Williams’ appointment.

“How was the No. 1 attorney in the county not aware of this?” Wilson told San
José Spotlight. “They tried to do this underhanded backroom deal without having
the public involved in the process of it, and they were very sloppy.”

Contact Tran Nguyen at tran@sanjosespotlight.com or follow @nguyenntrann on
Twitter.




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COMMENTS (13)

 1.  Danny Garza Nov 04, 2022 at 9:12AM
     
     Dear Community,
     
     Maybe, just maybe –
     
     This will help clear up any Financial Issues with 501c3s, especially here
     in the East Valley.
     
     AUDIT EVERY 501c3 IN THE EAST VALLEY FOR COMPLIANCE EFFECTIVENESS
     ACCORDINGLY.
     
     ITS THAT SIMPLE.
     
     If there are Violations then they are to be validated by the District
     Attorneys Office.
     
     The 501c3’s would have a very valid point to persuade the County to keep
     supplies of our Taxpayers Dollars.
     
     That is my opinion.
     
     I am open for discussion and education.
     
     In Community Spirit,
     Danny Garza
     
     Reply
     * Joe Smith Nov 04, 2022 at 10:19PM
       
       Thank you, San Jose Spotlight! You’re a blessing to the city of San Jose!
       
       Reply
       
     
 2.  Don Gagliardi Nov 04, 2022 at 9:38AM
     
     Will the coalition of nonprofits that reportedly previously demanded in
     writing transparency in the hiring process for the next County Executive,
     or any one or several of them, be submitting a cure and correct letter as a
     prelude to litigation? Relevant follow up question for this developing
     fiasco.
     
     Reply
     
 3.  J Hendricks Nov 04, 2022 at 10:04AM
     
     This is definitely worth looking into…..
     
     Reply
     
 4.  Time to be Honest Nov 04, 2022 at 10:11AM
     
     If they did, they don’t care. Many of the legal advocacy/watchdog
     organizations are on their payroll.
     
     Reply
     * Local Yokel Reprise Nov 05, 2022 at 5:23PM
       
       So true.
       
       Ask Them If They Care.
       
       Reply
       
     
 5.  Kent Johnson Nov 04, 2022 at 10:42AM
     
     I’ll be curious to see the FY2024 budget, LoL!
     
     $50 says his salary will NOT be $460,373.63. There was no mention of the
     PTO, probably worth another $450k. It’s all a joke. The only people getting
     paid are lawyers.
     
     Reply
     
 6.  Brisket Nov 04, 2022 at 4:29PM
     
     I m not understanding how the 501c3 has to do with this article
     Educate me please
     
     Reply
     
 7.  Steve Nov 04, 2022 at 5:46PM
     
     The last paragraph of this article says it all
     Or was Williams like payday suckers
     And the first thing I m going do do is update my LinkedIn profile
     
     Reply
     
 8.  Bemused Nov 05, 2022 at 10:08AM
     
     Nice start—appointing a lawyer who doesn’t know one of the most important
     laws governing government. Screw up, move up in Santa Clara County.
     
     Reply
     
 9.  Ralph Nov 05, 2022 at 3:08PM
     
     Williams looks like a bright guy, but it’s bordering on QAnon wacko that
     the County made this choice. OMG, he is being promoted from managing 10?
     employees to managing 20,000, managing a budget of 100 million??? to
     managing a budget of 11 Billion. This is not even a close call. There’s
     zero justification for this reckless decision, so it’s no surprise they did
     it behind closed doors.
     
     Reply
     
 10. Seeks Truth Nov 06, 2022 at 5:42PM
     
     Jeff Smith gave the Board 8 months notice before he retires in July 2023.
     The Board was grateful. (Otto Lee: “I am also grateful that he has provided
     the Board with the time needed to ensure a very smooth transition in
     leadership of the County organization.”
     (https://news.sccgov.org/news-release/long-time-santa-clara-county-chief-executive-officer-dr-jeffrey-v-smith-retire).)
     
     Instead of taking that time to allow others to compete for the position
     (normal and expected), and to be thoughtful about the process, the Board
     raced ahead to appoint James Williams in a secret meeting on October 17.
     
     Jeff Smith and James Williams (J&J) are true buds for those who don’t know.
     They have a mutually beneficial relationship that can be parasitic to the
     public. You can bet that Jeff will be singing James’ praise for the next 8
     months to nonprofits to stomp on the opposition that came out at the
     November 1 meeting. And when you are chief executive officer of Santa
     Clara, you can also do a lot behind the scenes as you might expect.
     
     Except that this excellent story brought to light so many problems.
     
     The Board did not provide notice to the public that an appointment was
     being considered. Look at the agenda— you would never be able to tell that
     the appointment of county counsel to the county executive position was
     being considered. They threw in a bunch of positions to mislead and
     distract the public.
     http://sccgov.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx?ID=14569. A sham.
     
     They did not even publicly report the actions at that meeting as required
     by the Brown Act. County employees knew, of course. But the suckers in the
     public were kept in the dark until November 1. Another sham.
     
     Most importantly, Cindy Chavez, who voted with all of her colleagues to
     appoint James Williams in secret on October 17 was able to hide her vote
     for Williams until November 1 (when she switched to a vote against him to
     shore up her political support). Cindy is running for mayor of San Jose,
     and early voting began on October 10. All those voters who voted early did
     not have information that Cindy had voted for James before she voted
     against James. Yet another sham. (All remaining San Jose voters please take
     note.)
     
     And what about the glorious champions of transparency and democracy on our
     Board? Where was Susan Ellenberg who claims to be for the least fortunate
     among us? Why did she not open up the process for any outsider to compete
     for? Was getting a “yes man” whose obedience she can count on so important
     that the public trust can be thrown aside? And where did you go, Joe?
     
     But the law taketh and giveth: Now the appointment of James Williams is
     void under the Brown Act. A violation letter has been sent to the Board of
     Supervisors and to all the authorities and the media. The Board should make
     it right because it has been given the chance to do so. It does not even
     have to take action to reverse its earlier decision—that has already
     happened by operation of the law.
     
     Otto Lee publicly said he wanted to do better. Well, here is your chance,
     Mr. Lee. Unless you lied about it, you need to take the opportunity to
     appoint the County Executive the right way.
     
     If the Board does not make it right, that will suggest that they did not
     really want an open process. That they wanted their chosen yes man in the
     office. That they bought and paid for (with taxpayer dollars) the loyalty,
     and future endorsement, of a County Executive who can hand out millions of
     dollars to nonprofits, pay raises to County Employees, and do their bidding
     without asking questions.
     
     Don’t gaslight. Make it right.
     
     The public can forgive a mistake. The public cannot forgive a coverup or a
     lie. Or scratch-my-back corruption.
     
     Reply
     
 11. Dennis Kyne Nov 07, 2022 at 7:31AM
     
     You can’t even get a contract to clean the streets without a competitive
     process. This is neo liberal babble about “the youngest ever”. “The first
     ever”. But, exactly why you don’t vote for Chavez. Bring in the new guy.
     
     Reply
     


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