SUPES, CITY COUNCIL SUED OVER PACE

A watchdog group is suing County Supervisors and the Bakersfield City Council over their decision to get rid of the Property Assessed Clean Energy, or PACE, program that helped homeowners install solar panels. The Checks and Balances Project accuses lawmakers of violating the Brown Act by meeting in secret with realtors to kill PACE.

County Counsel Mark Nations strongly disagrees and says each supervisor independently talked with people on both sides of the issue before the vote in June.

The Brown Act prohibits elected officials from colluding behind closed doors to make policy decisions.

Kelli Forsch