LANCASTER – A May 9 barbecue held so Mayor R. Rex Parris, Vice Mayor Ron Smith and Councilwoman Sherry Marquez could observe potential new members of the city’s Planning Commission was illegal under the state’s open-meeting law, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office. In a July 9 letter to the Lancaster City Council, Assistant Head Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Lentz Snyder said that, given the general public was not allowed to participate, “we conclude that this ‘social event’ constituted an illegal meeting” under the Ralph M. Brown Act. “Had your agency provided the public with notice of the gathering and access to the event, our conclusion would likely have been different,” Lentz Snyder said. For the full story visit http://www.avpress.com/n/15/0715_s4.hts