Biographies

J.W. August

President

Managing Editor

10News, San Diego

A founding member of CalAware’s board and one of its three journalist directors, August has authority over investigative and special projects at KGTV. He has worked his way up the news ranks from free lance print reporter to television assignment editor to his current top job.

During his career he has won awards for outstanding broadcast journalism including the San Diego Press Club’s highest honor, the Harold Keen Award, which he received in 2006. In 2005 he was the recipient of the National Society of Professional Journalists major award for his work advocating for open government and the First Amendment.

August has reported on a wide range of investigative issues including the environment, the energy industry, white collar crimes and political corruption. A transplanted San Diegan, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from San Diego State University in 1981.

Last year August coordinated statewide television news participation in CalAware’s audit of public records practices in local law enforcement agencies as well as directing his own station’s part of the project.

Kathryn Dresslar

Vice President

Chief of Staff

Senator Darrell Steinberg

Dennis Winston

Secretary/Treasurer

Partner

Moskowitz, Brestoff, Winston & Blinderman LLP

Mr. Winston is a partner with the firm of Moskowitz, Brestoff, Winston & Blinderman LLP in Los Angeles.  Mr. Winston specializes in business litigation, including wrongful termination (representing employers and employees), insurance coverage and general business disputes.  Over the past several years, Mr. Winston has also emphasized litigation involving open meetings, public records and First Amendment litigation, representing news organizations, elected representatives and private citizens and public interest organizations (such as the California First Amendment Coalition) in cases under the Ralph M. Brown Open Meeting Act, the Bagley-Keene Act and the California Public Records Act.  

Published decisions in which Mr. Winston has participated include:

McKee v. Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force, 134 Cal.App.4th 354 (2005);

Little v. Auto Stiegler, Inc, 29 Cal.4th 1064 (2003);

McKee v. Orange Unified School Dist., 110 Cal.App.4th 1310 (2003);

Wenger v. Monroe, 282 F.3d 1068 (9th Cir. 2002);

Epstein v. Hollywood Entertainment District II Business Improvement District, 87 Cal.App. 4th 862  (2001);

Smith Kandal Real Estate v. Continental Casualty Co., 67 Cal.App.4th 406 (1998);

U.S. v. Winstar Corp., 518 U.S. 839, 116 S.Ct. 2432 (1996) (as amicus curiae);

Rice v. Resolution Trust Corporation, 14 F.3d 1374 (9th Cir. 1994);

Modzelewski v. Resolution Trust Company, 14 F.3d 1347 (9th Cir. 1994);

Keating v. National Union, 995 F.2d 154 (9th Cir. 1993);

Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Dannenfeldt, 778 F. Supp. 1340 (C.D. Cal. 1991);

F.D.I.C. v. Baker, 739 F.Supp. 1401 (C.D. Cal. 1990);

U.S. v. Martorano, 561 F.2d 406 (1st Cir. 1977);

U.S. v. Martorano, 557 F.2d 1 (1st Cir. 1977);

U.S. v. Vaughn, 546 F.2d 47 (5th Cir. 1977);

U.S. v. DeVincent, 546 F.2d 452 (1st Cir. 1976); and

U.S. v. Iacovetti, 534 F.2d 1189 (5th Cir. 1976). 

Diane Barney, Director

Editor

The Reporter, Vacaville

Diane Barney is the editor at The Reporter in Vacaville, where she has worked in a variety of editing capacities since 1984. The Reporter, a 20,000-circulation daily newspaper, has won numerous journalism awards during the past 20 years, including a James Madison Freedom of Information Award in 2003 and a Fairbanks Public Service Award in 2003.

Barney has served as a director on the California First Amendment Coalition, and the California Society of Newspaper Editors before taking a director's seat for Californians Aware in 2004.

The Reporter conducted its own public access audit in 2002, testing 50 government agencies in Solano County on compliance with the California Public Record Act. The newspapers has also published for 29 years its own survey of top-ranking public servants in Solano County. "I love the challenges and the opportunities of working for a small, community newspaper," said Barney. "You really get a chance to make a difference in your community. I believe many of The Reporter's open government projects have had an impact on the policies and the quality of service at local government agencies. But we can't sit back and rest on our laurels. Training and education must be ongoing."

In 2006, The Reporter joined with 32 other newspapers in California to participate in CalAware's first-ever audit of police record requests. While many of the agencies surveyed by The Reporter failed, the Dixon Police Department earned the highest score in the state.

"There is sunshine in Solano County," said Barney. "We just want to see more and more of it."

Barney is an advocate of collaborative effort between media, public and government agencies.

"That's the beauty of CalAware. It audits to test compliance, but it also offers training and education," said Barney. "It offers hope."

Tim Crews, Director

Owner/Publisher

The Sacramento Valley Mirror, Willows

Donna Frye, Director

Councilmember

The City of San Diego

A successful business owner with a bachelor's degree in business, Donna Frye has served the public and City of San Diego as a Councilmember since 2001. During her tenure, Frye has distinguished herself as an independent thinker who fights relentlessly for an open and honest government that is accountable to the public. For her work, Senator Christine Kehoe honored her in Sacramento as the 2004 Woman of the Year.

Councilmember Frye chairs the Natural Resources and Culture Committee and serves on both the Budget & Finance Committee and Rules Committee. She is also the Chair of the Mission Bay Technical Advisory Committee and the San Diego River Conservancy.

Frye believes the role of government is to serve the public and improve the quality of life for all members of the community. To that end, she works to provide residents with improved core city services such as parks, recreation centers, libraries, police, fire, streets, sidewalks, and sewer and water infrastructure. The Bayside Community Center recognized Frye's work by naming her the 2002 Community Leader of the Year.

Councilmember Frye used her leadership skills to open the doors of government and put an end to the culture of secrecy. In 2004, she worked with Terry Francke and rallied public consensus around a tough open-government City Charter ballot measure that passed with 82 percent of the vote. Her 2004 boycott of closed session meetings and collaboration with Terry Francke resulted in a reform of the rules to allow for greater public access and more transparency of those meetings. This included requiring that a transcriptionist take minutes in all closed session meetings and ensuring that the public could testify on any closed session item. Further, she saved public comment from being pushed back to the end of City Council hearings.

Continuing her quest for an honest and accountable government, Frye created the Government Efficiency and Openness (GE&O) Committee. As its first Chair, she accomplished a number of open government reforms in less than a year: she exposed the city's misrepresentations of the budget and pension system
deficits to the public and pushed for the enforcement of mandatory disclosure laws for those doing business with the city.

A well-known community activist before being elected to office, Councilmember Frye continues to protect the quality of life for all San Diegans. She remains dedicated to achieving clean water and preserving our parks, canyons, and open space. Frye is also committed to protecting and restoring the San Diego River, and in 2005 was named Legislator of the Year by The San Diego River Park Foundation. Frye also received the 2005 San Diego Environmental Champion Award from the San Diego League of Conservation Voters.

Richard McKee

President Emeritus

Professor

Pasadena City College

Mr. McKee was born and raised in Southern California and is a resident of La Verne.  Rich received his BS ('72) and MS ('74) in Chemistry from California State University, Long Beach, and since 1975 has been Professor of Chemistry at Pasadena City College.  During his tenure at PCC, Rich has served as Chair of the College’s Personnel Committee and Parliamentarian of the Academic Senate.

Beginning in 1993, Rich has also been an activist for open local government, educating elected and appointed officials of local agencies in the requirements of the Ralph M. Brown Act and the California Public Records Act.  To date, Rich has counseled over 80 public agencies in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties. A founding member and president of Californians Aware, Rich has also served as a board member of the Los Angeles Press Club and as president of the California First Amendment Coalition ("CFAC"), the only non-journalist to ever hold that position.  

While most of Rich's efforts are focused on open government education, at times he has been involved in litigation to protect the public's rights.  Since 1994 Rich has been a party in eighteen open government and First Amendment lawsuits. Notable among these is McKee v. Orange Unified School District, 110 Cal.App.4th 1310 (4th Dist., 2003), which protects the rights of all Californians no matter where they live to bring legal action against any local agency for Brown Act violations, and McKee v. Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force, 134 Cal.App.4th 354 (2nd Dist., 2005), which forced rather stealth, regional, drug law enforcement and anti-terrorism task forces throughout California to hold open, noticed meetings and to release their financial statements for public scrutiny.  In 1995, CFAC honored Rich with its Torchbearer Award, recognizing him for his pro per legal challenges of local agency open meeting and public information practices. 

Rich lectures frequently on open government issues to community organizations, reporters, activist groups, public officials, and college and university journalism classes, where the Los Angeles Times says he “gets as animated as Jack Nicholson at a Laker game when he talks about the people’s right to know.”  His opinions on open-government law have been featured in the Los Angeles Daily Journal, Orange County Register, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Pasadena Star-News, KCET television, and KCRW, KPCC, and KPFK radio.

For his efforts, KPFK dubbed him “John Q. Citizen.”  KCET's Life & Times Tonight called him “the citizen who won’t shut up and go away.”  The Los Angeles Times characterized him as “the scourge of public agencies across the eastern suburbs of Los Angeles County” who “walks softly and carries a big stick.” The Sacramento Bee referred to him as “Mr. Sunshine.” And upon his election as CFAC President, an Editorial run jointly by the Pasadena Star-News and the San Gabriel Valley Tribune called Rich the "right man for the job," and his selection "a refreshing move that will further the public's right to know."

Cindy Ossias, Director

Legal Counsel

California Department of Insurance

Susan Seager, Director

Associate

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Los Angeles

Ms. Seager is a media law litigator with the Los Angeles office of Davis Wright Tremaine. She represented the Los Angeles Times in its recent efforts to keep peace officer personnel information open to the public in the proceedings of Los Angeles public agencies. A veteran journalist prior to taking her degree from Yale Law School, Ms. Seager has won appellate decisions striking down a divorce court secrecy statute as unconstitutional, denying an FBI agent's motion to compel a freelance reporter's testimony in a Privacy Act case, and protecting broadcasters from a slander claim by a reality show contestant.

Cases include:

Burkle v. Burkle, 135 Cal. App. 4th 1045 (2006) (won Court of Appeal decision striking down divorce court secrecy statute as unconstitutional);

Chilton v. Center for Biological Diversity, 2 CA-CV 2005-0115 (Arizona Court of Appeals 2006)(appellate counsel for environmental group challenging defamation verdict);

Wright v. FBI, 2005 WL 2086034 (C.D.Cal. 2005) (won court order denying FBI agent's motion to compel free-lance reporter's testimony in Privacy Act case);

Ryan v. Ryan, Los Angeles Superior Court No. BD 290382 (2004) (won court order unsealing divorce records of 2004 Illinois U.S. Senate candidate Jack Ryan);

LA Times v. LA County Brd of Sups., 112 Cal. App. 4th 1313 (2003) (won Court of Appeal decision awarding attorneys’ fees in Brown Act case against largest local body in state);

Seelig v. Infinity Broadcasting Corp., 97 Cal. App. 4th 798 (2002) (successfully defended radio defendants from slander claim brought by reality show contestant);

Daly v. Viacom, Inc., 238 F. Supp. 2d 1118 (N.D. Cal. 2002) (successfully defended MTV reality show against privacy and false light claims).

Dale Smith, Director

Consultant

Alfa Omega Associates

Traveled in 68 countries while engaging in international business and public sector organization management, commercial radio/TV station development.  Director, largest cold-war era East Bloc mission.  Network radio/television correspondent and media business owner. 

Built and managed 5 radio stations/TV stations in the first 12 years of career.  KSAB and KSDX, Okinawa, 1957 to 1960.  KSAB rated number 1 in 7 station market. 

Built, managed first family programming TV station on the West Coast KITR-TV, LA.

1960 - G. M., Chief Engineer, KHOF-FM, L A, a 100,000 Watt independent pioneer FM station.  Went to yearly net operating profit of $50,000 in 1965, winning many media awards.            

Built/managed XEX-FM, English l- Spanish language stations XHMM-FM, Mexico City - 1966/1972.

Owned/operated advertising agencies/production companies - Mexico City, California & Colorado. 

12 years directing largest public sector organization behind Iron Curtain, in Munich, West Germany. A multi-national staff 22 language groups, 150 full time, 200 to 300 P/T workers.  Eight million dollar annual budget.

26 year accredited U.S. network broadcast correspondent, MBS & ABC NEWS.   Correspondent Deutsche Wella Radio • East European editor, Christian Life Magazine • Event/Managing Producer, CBS Radio - 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

1984 – Present - Founder/President of EAST WEST FELLOWSHIP, INC., serving humanitarian & charitable needs in Eastern Europe.

1987 - 1990 - VP/COO, Media Solutions, Inc., developer - Syndicated Network Audience Processor (SNAP), premier computer ratings system – Nielsen/Arbitron multi-market TV ratings.

1995 – Present - Friends of Placer County Communities, Inc.¸ CA non-profit corporation.  Grass-roots community action committee concerned quality of life and economic well being of Placer County's residents. 

2001 to Present – Pioneering faith-based services to those addicted to drugs & those controlled by alcoholism, representing organizations before California Drug and Alcohol Programs  Sacramento.

1994 to present – Directing Alfa Omega Associates (AOA), PR, publicity/general management consultants in media, land-use, environmental and historic preservation.

Terry Francke

General Counsel and Founder

Terry Francke has a 26-year history of helping journalists, citizens and public officials understand and use their First Amendment and public information rights.

Most recently, Francke donated his own resources to founding a new organization, Californians Aware.  The idea for this new organization, now just over two years old, came from the unique perspective that working with both the public and public officials at the same time could effect a change in the overall landscape, and improve the public trust while also making openness more convenient for those at the gates.  In 2005, Francke authored an authoritative and comprehensive guide to open meetings laws in California, which has received wide acclaim from all sectors.

Francke previously served 14 years as general counsel to the California First Amendment Coalition, after a 10-year post as legal counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

Over both these periods Francke has fielded tens of thousands of phoned and e-mailed queries on press and citizen rights; written the most widely used guidebooks to the law governing open meetings, open courts and public records in California; served as an advisory panel member to the National Center on Courts and the Media; taught journalism law at the Department of Communication at Stanford University; and served as an expert contributor to the 1994 major revisions to the Ralph M. Brown Act and the 2004 ballot proposition making open government a basic right of citizens under the California Constitution.

Francke is a 1967 graduate of the University of Notre Dame and a 1979 graduate of McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific.  Prior to his legal career, Francke worked as a weekly newspaper editor and in military and local government public affairs positions.

Emily Francke

Executive Director and Founder

Emily Francke has a versatile background which began in the medical field as an EMT in Los Angeles.  After completing her degree in government and history at CSU Sacramento, which earned her membership with Phi Beta Delta honor society, she turned her focus towards following in her father's open goverment footsteps.   Emily worked briefly as office manager for the California First Amendment Coalition before founding Californians Aware with her father and colleague, Terry Francke.

Emily strives to keep CalAware relevant and effective for the good of its members as well as all Californians.  Emily is responsible for the organization's programs, special projects, membership relations and office management.