Castaic Lake Water Agency v. Newhall County Water Dist. CA2/3

Plaintiff and appellant Castaic Lake Water Agency (Castaic) appeals a judgment dismissing its petition for writ of mandate and complaint for injunctive relief; in the court below, Castaic sought to overturn certain actions taken by defendants and respondents Newhall County Water District and the Board of Directors of Newhall County Water District (hereafter, Newhall or the Newhall Board) on the ground that Newhall failed to comply with the open meeting requirements of the Ralph M. Brown Act (the Brown Act or the Act) (Gov. Code, § 54950 et seq.).

We affirm the judgment dismissing Castaic’s action. We conclude there was no Brown Act violation by Newhall because the given notice substantially complied with the Act. Although the given notice erroneously cited subdivision (c) of section 54956.9 instead of subdivision (d)(4), it adequately advised the members of the public that on March 14, 2013, the Newhall Board would be meeting with its legal counsel, in closed session, to discuss potential litigation in two cases.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

1. The underlying events.

On March 8, 2013, Newhall posted a “Notice and Agenda of Regular Meeting of the Board of…