Central California: Grand jury finds open government violation by Hughson City Council
A grand jury has charged that three Hughson City Council members violated the Brown Act and other rules and ordinances and recommended that they be removed from office

Three Hughson City Council members received not so glad tidings on Tuesday when the Civil Grand Jury handed down a recommendation that they be removed from office.

“The Civil Grand Jury finds that the preponderance of evidence shows that Councilmen A, B, and C promoted their own agenda against the best interests of the citizens of Hughson,” according to the Civil Grand Jury Case No. 010-04.

The three council members are not named in the grand jury recommendation and referred to as Councilman A, B, and C but descriptions of each council member make their identities obvious. Thom Crowder is described as Councilman A, being appointed in January to fill the vacant position by the mayor and owning an ambulance service. Doug Humphreys, who is a former director of the Hughson Fire Protection District, is described as Councilman B. Ben Manley, who was elected in November 2008 and is a former member of the Hughson Planning Commission, is described as Councilman C.

According to the grand jury report, public documents such as e-mails, newspaper articles, and... http://www.firstamendmentcoalition.org/2009/12/central-california-grand-...