Moreno

The trial court granted plaintiff Roberto Moreno’s petition for a writ of mandate after it found that defendant City of King’s termination of Moreno’s employment as the City of King’s finance director was null and void because it had occurred in a manner that violated the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law. (Gov. Code, § 54950.5 et seq.) On appeal, City of King (the City) asserts that the trial court erred in finding that it violated the Brown Act and in finding that it had not “cured” any violations. Defendant Keith Breskin, the City’s city manager, claims that the trial court erred in granting Moreno’s motion to tax some of his costs. We reject these contentions and affirm the trial court’s judgment.

I. Factual Background

The City’s municipal code (the code) provides that “[t]he city manager shall take his orders and instructions from the city council only when sitting in a duly held meeting of the city council . . . .” Under the code, the finance director “shall be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the city council.”

The City’s City Council (the Council) held a special meeting on October 17, 2002. The agenda for this meeting stated that the only item…