Chiropractic Board Members in Hot Seat at Hearing
State lawmakers at a joint legislative committee on Wednesday accused the California Board of Chiropractic Examiners with violating the state's open-meeting laws when it fired its executive director at a March 1 meeting, the Sacramento Bee reports (Yamamura/Hill, Sacramento Bee, 3/29).
The board fired Executive Director Catherine Hayes in a closed meeting and named Richard Tyler interim executive director. Tyler also serves as chair of the board.
State law requires employees subject to discipline to receive written notice 24 hours before the meeting of their right to have a public hearing rather than a closed session. The issue was not on the agenda for the March 1 meeting, prompting accusations that the board violated the state's open-meeting laws.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), who appointed all the board members, earlier this month forced Tyler to relinquish his simultaneous role as executive director (California Healthline, 3/26).
Assembly member Mike Eng (D-Monterey Park) said, "If the allegations raised at this meeting are true, then the governor should seriously consider asking these board members to resign."
Lawmakers also accused the board of ignoring legal procedures when it ejected Deputy Attorney General Jana Tuton from its March 1 meeting.
Tyler testified at the meeting that the board is taking several corrective measures, including regular courses on the state's open-meeting laws (Sacramento Bee, 3/29).
Tyler's apology and the corrective measures offered at the joint legislative hearing are "too little and too late," a Los Angeles Times editorial states. Schwarzenegger can "rectify this situation" by "sweep[ing] out the current members, replacing them with qualified appointees and reversing the attempted capture of the licensing board by the very people the board is supposed to be overseeing," according to the editorial (Los Angeles Times, 3/30).
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