CSU Private Meeting Did Not Break Open Meeting Law

KCAL-TV 1/11/07

(CBS) LOS ANGELES--A Los Angeles judge ruled Thursday that a closed-door meeting in which California State University trustees received information about the return of a former chancellor to teach English did not violate the state's open-meeting law.

John Travis, president of the California Faculty Association, claimed in his lawsuit that the CSU Board of Trustees acted improperly when it held the private informational meeting regarding Barry Munitz last March 14, even if it was just a discussion of his return to teaching.

But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Dzintra Janavs said the hearing was properly closed under the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act of 2004 because it involved a personnel matter.

"These are clearly, it seems to me, employment matters," Janavs said.

After leaving his CSU chancellor post, Munitz headed the J. Paul Getty Trust for nearly eight years until he resigned under pressure in February 2006.

A probe released in October by state Attorney General Bill Lockyer concluded, among other things, that the Getty should not have paid travel expenses for Munitz's wife, and that Munitz should not have used Getty employees to run his personal errands.

No charges were filed against Munitz because he paid $250,000 to the charitable trust and gave up more than $2 million in benefits, according to the Lockyer's office.

Munitz was chancellor of the CSU system from 1991 to 1998. He was hired earlier this year by CSU to perform several duties at Cal State Los Angeles, including preparing courses for the English Department on reading and composition.

Susan Westover, an attorney for the CSU system, said Munitz accrued his right to be rehired as a professor through his prior job as chancellor.

Travis' lawyer, Glenn Rothner, said the lawsuit did not challenge Munitz's hiring or his $163,000 salary, but sought a declaration of whether the CSU trustees complied with the open-meeting law and an order that they record closed sessions in the future.

Munitz's annual salary at the Getty was $1.2 million.

Rothner said the discussion by the trustees concerning Munitz did not involve employment, but rather a policy issue not subject to closed hearings.

He also said CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed showed by his own sworn declaration that he was concerned about the public's perception of Munitz's return after the Getty problems.