No agenda, no meeting for ASLC

The Feb. 19 ASLC meeting came to an abrupt stop only minutes after it started when Internal Secretary Inés Colón informed the council that they were in violation of the Brown Act by failing to post its agenda. (See box this page.)
ASLC President Carl Oliver called for a special meeting at noon Feb 24.
Members of the public were present to seek funds for upcoming events. However, only one council member of the ASLC was present and the special meeting never occurred.
At the Feb. 5 meeting, President Oliver asked the Student Council to approve $15,500 from Fund 82 for new camera equipment and a new sound system for the Student Center.
Oliver said the equipment will be available for the student government’s promotion and publicity team, Team Laney, as well as media students. The equipment would be used to record and even live stream school events. Oliver’s proposal received unanimous approval.
The Black Student Union requested $5010 from Fund 82 to finance an orientation event called “Black Student Welcome Day,” 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28.
The BSU, as well as the ASLC, stressed that this event would be open to people of all genders and races but the BSU would like to keep the focus on African American students ages 16–25.
The program will include a Laney orientation session as well as an address from keynote speaker “Freeway” Rick Ross, American author and entrepreneur and a “Love not Blood” workshop hosted by Cephus Johnson, founder of the Oscar Grant Foundation. The workshop will focus on gun violence, police brutality and mass incarceration. The proposal passed unanimously.

Ralph M. Brown Act — The Brown Act, passed by the California Sate Legislature in 1953, guarantees the public’s right to attend and participate in meetings of local legislative bodies.