A&A: Commissioner advised speaking to press could give rise to Brown Act violation

Q: I am a city commissioner, and I was recently advised against voicing my opinion to the press on any subject that is or in the future may be under my commission’s jurisdiction.  The concern is that  later other commissioners may choose to speak to the press on the same subject and give rise to [...]

A&A: Public right to to speak denied at school board meetings

Q: I need help defending the  public’s right to speak at open meetings. At school board meetings, board members will not let members of the public comment for the established time of three minutes. School district staff speaks for three minutes and then the public gets three minutes. Often times the chair does not allow [...]

A&A: School Board Trustees meeting with union reps in violation of Brown Act

Q: It’s come to my attention that three of the five members on the School Board meet privately with representatives of the teacher’s union to discuss items on the agenda for the upcoming board meeting. There are no public notices for these meetings. My feeling is that the board members will find a way around [...]

A&A: Voting on an agenda item that was for discussion only

Q: On a recent City Council agenda was a discussion item on which  no action was called for. The summary recommendation was “that the City Council receive and file this report.” Yet without any public notice, the City Council took action on the item. Doesn’t the  Brown Act require items on which Council acts to [...]

FAC files Brown Act suit alleging pattern & practice of “notice” violations by LA City Council

FAC–The First Amendment Coalition has filed suit against the Los Angeles City Council over the Council’s failure to tell the public, in advance, that it was about to consider and vote on layoffs of thousands of government workers. FAC’s suit, claiming a “pattern and practice” of violations of the Brown Act, requests declaratory and injunctive [...]

Fillmore City Council admits to Brown Act violation

The Fillmore city mayor conceded to a Brown Act violation but said since there was no consequences from the violation, the matter was closed. -DB Ventura County Star August 27, 2009 By Mike Harris Responding to an accusation from Fillmore City Councilman Steve Conaway, Mayor Patti Walker has conceded that members of the council unintentionally violated [...]