The Seal Beach City Council took no action during a closed session of the City Council on Monday, Sept. 8, according to City Attorney Nicholas Ghirelli.
District Four Councilwoman Patty Senecal participated remotely.
Ghirelli addressed recent complaints asserting that the city violated the Brown Act during the Aug. 11 council hearing on water and sewer rates. (For background, see below.)
Ghirelli said he appreciated the time people took to write him about the Aug. 11 council meeting. “I reviewed your comments carefully, but I do not believe there was any Brown Act violation that occurred at that meeting,” he said.
According to Ghirelli, the council discussion of water and sewer rates was limited to the topic of water and sewer rates. “The Brown Act does not limit the time the council member has to present their argument,” Ghirelli said.
He said the Brown Act requirements were satisfied at that meeting.
Recently Letters to the Editor of the Sun (sunnews.org) and at least one letter to the city of Seal Beach argued otherwise.
The council on Sept. 8 also discussed the city manager’s job performance, labor negotiations and possible lawsuits. State law allows the council to meet in closed session to discuss lawsuits, labor negotiations, and personnel matters.
Brown Act complaint
Conference with legal council about a threat of litigation alleging a Brown Act violation and public due process during the Aug. 11 water and sewer rate hearing. The city has received a demand to cure and correct the alleged violations of the Brown Act.
In a letter dated Sept. 2, Seal Beach resident Charles Kluger demanded a “cure and correction” based on Government Code 54960.1. “After the public hearing on the proposed water and sewer rates closed council member [Nathan] Steele presented a prepared slide presentation that had not been included in the posted agenda,” Kluger wrote.
Kluger argued this violated state law. According to Kluger, the city is required to respond in 30 days.
“If the City Council does not cure or correct this violation, I reserve all rights to pursue remedies available in Superior Court under 54960.1(a),” Kluger wrote.
Kluger’s physical and email address were redacted from the copy of the letter that is available to the public at the City Clerk’s Office.
City manager
The city manager’s performance evaluation was also on closed session agendas for the following dates in 2025: July 28, June 9, May 27, May 12, April 28, April 14, March 24, March 10, and Feb. 24. Patrick Gallegos became interim city manager on Nov. 1, 2024, following the resignation of Jill Ingram, the previous city manager. Gallegos became the permanent city manager on June 2, 2025 by a public council vote of 4-1. At the time, District Four Councilwoman Patty Senecal cast the dissenting vote.
According to the staff report for that meeting, Gallegos’ contract calls for the council to conduct an annual performance evaluation on or before January 30 of each year, starting in 2026.
Lampson Avenue case
Conference with legal council about a threat of litigation against Seal Beach concerning the 4665 Lampson Ave. development in Los Alamitos. This appears to be continued discussion of an issue that came up on March 4 of this year. It is possible that Seal Beach could be sued to force the city to provide sewer service to a planned residential development in the city of Los Alamitos. (See “Lampson Lawsuit” at sunnews.org.)
Initiation of litigation
Conference with legal council about initiation of litigation. The closed session agenda provided no specifics about the case in question.
Labor negotiations
Conference with labor negotiator (City Manager Patrick Gallegos) with the Police Officers Association, the Police Management Association, and the Orange County Employees Association.
The notice of the special meeting was posted on the city website and dated Sept. 5.
