I've Got a Secret

Under fire for fostering a culture of secrecy, Los Angeles County supervisors split Tuesday over whether a growing number of county documents and meetings should be labeled confidential and closed to the public. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

As the board voted to approve a $390,000 settlement in a foster-child sexual-abuse case, Supervisor Gloria Molina broke ranks with the majority and questioned why the five-member county governing board had ended a long-standing practice of disclosing settlement details.

A decision to keep details of settlements secret was recently made by the county counsel without input from the supervisors or the public.

"I'd like a written report to find out what the heck is going on," Molina said. "By providing this information to the public, we have held ourselves, our departments a