Resident sues the city of Patterson claiming violation of state law
A Patterson resident is suing the city over what he claims is a violation of open-meeting laws related to an appeal of a housing development lawsuit.
In January, Keystone Ranch and the Building Industry Association of the Greater Valley won a suit against the city filed in Stanislaus Superior Court. The lawsuit claimed the city put unlawful restrictions on the developers.
This new suit, filed by resident Dennis Beougher on June 2, alleges the city attorney either missed the 60-day deadline for appeal by not having the City Council take action, or the city violated the Brown Act by taking action in closed session without reporting it to the public.
On May 5, the city ratified the action to appeal, more than a month after it filed the appeal in court. Beougher said this is past a 60-day window to appeal, which started Feb. 19 and closed April 19.
“You can’t ratify something going back without the approval of affected third parties, which is Keystone, and they would not likely give them the authority to do that,” Beougher said.
The appeal in the Keystone Ranch lawsuit was filed March 27 after a closed-session meeting March 17 at which the city said no action was taken.
Beougher sent a letter to the city clerk and requested a “cure and correct,” a way to resolve Brown Act issues without a lawsuit. In a response, a city attorney said the City Council reached no conclusion and no action was taken, so no violation of the Brown Act occurred.
Beougher said if no action was taken, and no meetings occurred between the time the council discussed the issue in closed session and when the appeal was filed, there was no council approval of the decision to file. That would make the appeal invalid.
“The city attorney can’t on their own file a lawsuit or put an appeal on the record,” Beougher said.
If the city did not approve the appeal before it was filed, it’s possible the court could invalidate the appeal.
The city attorney for Patterson did not respond to a request for comment for this article.
This story was originally published June 23, 2026 at 12:32 PM.
