"Sanitation District secretly votes on pay raises"
By Tony Saavedra
The Orange County Register
November 8, 2011
Link: http://taxdollars.ocregister.com/2011/11/08/sanitation-district-secretly-votes-on-pay-raises/124303/

Excerpts (see news article cited directly above):

• The sanitation district board on Sept. 28 approved pay raises for 17 managers and 18 “confidential” workers during a closed-door session.
• The vote was in violation of the state open meeting law — the Brown Act — because the workers are not represented by any bargaining group.
• The Sanitation District will rescind its vote Nov. 16 and retake it during a public session.

Commentary:

• Under California Government Code Section 54959, violation of the Brown Act is a misdemeanor (http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/calawquery?codesection=gov&codebody=&hits=20).
• It is a well-known principle of law that the violation of a law cannot be "undone" after the law has been violated. Any subsequent remedial or remorseful words or acts are irrelevant regarding whether the law has been violated.
• For example, a person cannot avoid prosecution for theft by returning the stolen item.
• Accordingly, the subsequent rescission of a vote that violated the Brown Act does not undo the violation of the Brown Act.