To qualify for the public interest exemption to the Anti-SLAPP statute (CCP 425.17(b)), the “action, as opposed to a cause of action, must be brought solely in the public interest.” If any portion of the lawsuit contravenes section 425.17, subdivision (b), then the public interest exemption does not apply at all. Here, a suit against a water board and its manager and board members was not a public interest suit because insofar as it alleged claims against the board’s manager and members, it did not advance the public interest as it sought relief that only the board, not the individuals could provide. The Anti-SLAPP statute’s purpose is furthered by discouraging suits against individual public officials. The board members’ votes and consultants’ reports for the challenged water rates were protected activity under CCP 425.16(e) and were absolutely privileged under Civ. Cod 47(b).