Just days after Yucca Valley resident and Third District Supervisor Dawn Rowe launched her campaign for election to the Board of Supervisors, a judge has ruled her appointment to the board in December is null and void. The judge’s ruling is in response to a lawsuit filed by a public advocacy group, I.E. United, over the way the board selected Rowe. The plaintiffs contend that board violated the state’s Brown Act when the supervisors voted December 4 to modify the selection process to replace James Ramos, who had been elected to the State Assembly in November. The group claims—and the judge agreed—that the four County Supervisors met “privately” and held a “secret ballot” when they emailed their top 10 choices for the seat to the board clerk, in their attempt to whittle down an initial list of 48 applicants to 13. The meeting’s agenda noted that all applicants for the vacant seat would be interviewed. Only those applicants who were on the lists of at least two supervisors were interviewed. The judge agreed that this “secret ballot”—which had not been placed on a meeting agenda—constituted a violation of the Brown Act, and she ruled Rowe’s appointment is invalid. The county has appealed the decision which puts the judge’s decision on hold. If her ruling is upheld, the governor can appoint someone to fill the vacant seat.
