Gloves were off during Cty Council discussion of El Dorado County DA's investigation

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - As expected, the South Lake Tahoe City Council's discussion of the El Dorado County District Attorney's review of allegations of Brown Act violations made by Councilwoman Brooke Laine in April, 2018 was tense, to say the least.

The DA's letter to SLT Police Chief Brian Uhler with their findings were on Tuesday's consent agenda, but they wouldn't stay there long as the public and a councilmember asked for the item to be pulled for discussion.

"At most it appears there were a few possible Brown Act violations in late 2017 and early 2018 concerning the failure to properly agendize items discussed in closed session, improper items being discussed and reported from closed session, and the failure to properly and accurately identify agenda topics in closed and open session," said the District Attorney's office in their letter to Uhler on August 24.

Some of the possible Brown Act violations stem around the hiring of Mary Egan and her company, Municipal Resource Group, LLC, to "conduct an assessment of the City leadership effectiveness, the culture of the senior management team, succession planning status and related issues."

All five of the elected officials had something to say about Laine's letter and the subsequent investigation, some of it uncomfortable to watch as they responded one-by-one.

"I want to apologize to the public on this process," started Mayor Pro Tem Tom Davis. He called out fellow councilmember Austin Sass (who was mayor at the time) for what he saw as self-serving actions under a veil of secrecy in the hiring of Egan.

"I really was disappointed in you, Austin," said Davis. "From the fact that we gave you direction based on the information we had that was going to be conducted by Mary Egan, and somehow along the way your personal agenda permeated that process. And I trusted you to follow that process."

Davis accused Sass of not being honest when Sass's iPad and iPhone were reported stolen from in front of St. Theresa's Church just as a public records request to see their contents was made by Lake Tahoe News.

"It just got bizarre," added Davis.

Sass said he couldn't respond to everything Davis brought up as they were items discussed in closed session, but did say he was not expecting Davis' remarks but should have expected them during an election year. Sass, Davis and Mayor Wendy David are all running for re-election.

He told South Tahoe Now that the electronic items were stolen and he called Uhler to report the crime. He said he didn't know he had to stay on site and left to go to the gym prior to the police arriving to take a report. He also said there was nothing on the iPhone as it was a new one with no items on it from the time period of the records request.

Sass did read a comment into the record however. He wanted to stress the DA's investigation showed no evidence of criminal wrongdoing and thus closed their investigation. He said Laine's statements made to the media were misleading.

"What the public needs today is honesty and transparency," said Laine. "This Council needs to have this discussion and move on. We're not talking about roads, transit, we’re arguing about internal games being played, and this is wrong. Its divisive, its ugly. I have never seeen so much manipulations, underhandedness, it needs to stop"

Laine said actions by Sass have been underhanded and manipulative.

"Its divisive, its ugly, it needs to stop," she said.

The Brown Act provides rules and processes and when mismanaged, it exemplifies the importance of why they should be followed, said Laine of the chaos that has ensued since Egan was hired.

Councilwoman Laine also brought up Sass's missing devices.

"To say I am disappointed is not the strongest word…..I am disappointed and shocked," said Laine. "It is sad that a device goes missing within hours of a public records request. This is disreagard for the public, an arrogance. This is happening, and this is wrong…what they deserve is our taking care of it and stop the shenanigans....from this day forward, this has to stop."

Councilman Jason Collin questioned the timing of Tuesday's discussion about the electronic devices, Laine's opinion piece and Sass's actions. "Are these election time moves?" he asked. "I hope we can move on and do meaningful work.

"This is sad," said Mayor Wendy David. "My goal is to treat each other with professional respect. I have been in elected positions for 21 years and I appreciate the Brown Act. It gives us a framework for following the law. The DA's report was fair and we have a job to do for the city, to move forward and make the best decisions for the city, listen to the constituents and be the best city council we can be."

Davis said he wanted the process honest, transparent and clear.

"The city will vote on how we did on November 6," said Davis.

Even though the DA's office found no criminal wrong-doing, a Grand Jury can still be assigned to look into Laine's (or anyone's) allegations.