Central valley: Hughson seats new city council members after finding of Brown Act violations

The small town of Hughson swore in three new city council members with feelings of elation and renewal after recalling three former council members that the Stanislaus County Civil Grand Jury found had violated California’s open meeting law, Hughson’s Municipal Code and Fair Political Practices Regulations and Code. -db
Turlock Journal
August 31, 2010
By Maegan Martens
After eight [...]

Open-meeting violation alleged over Pomona schools parcel tax proposal

A citizen accused the Pomona Unified School District board of violating California’s open meeting law by holding discussions in closed sessions about a parcel tax proposed for the November ballot. The board’s attorney says the board acted properly in that all votes concerning the parcel tax were conducted in public. -db
Contra Costa Times
August 31, 2010
By [...]

Sunnyvale: Family affair in school board race prompts concerns about open meeting violations

Three members from the Goldman family are running for the Fremont Union High School District board in a contest for three open seats as observers expressed some skepticism about whether, if all three are elected, they could successfully observe California’s open meeting law and avoid discussing school district business around the breakfast table. -db
San [...]

Driver’s union claims transit authority violated California open meeting law

A San Bernardino County teamster’s union has charged the Mountain Area Regional Transit Authority with failing to convene in open session before adjourning to closed session, a violation of the state’s open meeting law, the Brown Act. -db
Big Bear Grizzly
August 27, 2010
By Arrissa Owen Turner
Mountain Area Regional Transit Authority violated the Ralph M. Brown [...]

A&A: Mayor up for reelection wants to stifle public comment on candidates

Q: The mayor who is running for reelection is currently advancing a policy revision to stifle the public comments during City Council meetings of anyone who is speaking to a ballot initiative or on a candidate.
Recently the mayor discussed the changes she’s proposing in an interview with a local newspaper and mentioned email communication with [...]

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: We’ve requested items added to agenda and been denied. Can they do that?

Q: Several property owners within a Community Services District have been denied items to be placed on the agenda for consideration. Can they continue to do this ?
A: The Brown Act itself does not mandate procedures for placing items on an agenda (though it does say that “a member of a legislative body, or the [...]

Southern California: Fontana school board president justifies silencing citizens during public comments

The Fontana Unified School District board president said he stopped citizens from talking during public comment period because according to California Education Code Section 7054, citizens could not discuss district issues at school board meetings to promote ballot measures or political candidates. -db
Fontana Herald News
August 26, 2010
By Alejandro Cano
It has happened at least [...]

Open records dispute: Judge orders university to release contract with Palin

A Superior Court judge has ordered California State University of Stanislaus to comply with public records laws and release a speakers contract with Sarah Palin. -db
San Francisco Chronicle
August 26, 2010
By Nanette Asimov
California State University at Stanislaus violated public records laws and will have to release the speakers contract with Sarah Palin it had tried [...]

Tulare County: Editorial says judge’s ruling blow to open meetings

On the heels of a Superior Court judge’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit alleging Brown Act violations by the county Board of Supervisors, the Visalia Times-Delta argues that the judge should have recognized the overriding importance of the public’s right to know how elected officials conduct public business. -db
Visalia Times-Delta
Editorial
August 26, 2010
Naturally, we at the [...]

Tulare County supervisors likely to evade suit on alleged open meeting violations

A superior court judge indicated she would dismiss an open meeting lawsuit against the Tulare County Board of Supervisors from lack of solid evidence. The supervisors were alleged to have violated California’s Brown Act by meeting regularly for lunch, they claimed, to build team solidarity. -db
Visalia Times-Delta
August 21, 2010
By Valerie Gibbons
A Tulare County Superior [...]

Porterville City Council rejects proposal to limit public comments

The Porterville City Council decided not to restrict public comments to those items on the agenda even though members of the community wanted to comment on the agenda would have to wait their turn.
California’s open meeting law says the public has a right to comment on issues before government agencies make decisions. -db
The Porterville Recorder
August [...]

A&A: Is a weekly Rotary Club meeting a “Social or Ceremonial” event governed by the Brown Act?

Q: Is a weekly Rotary Club meeting considered a “Social or Ceremonial” event that would be governed by the Brown Act?
A:It seems unlikely that a Rotary Club meetings would be subject to the Brown Act. If such a meeting were to be considered the type of social or ceremonial event that would implicate the [...]

Los Angeles County child welfare probe heats up

Amid accusations that they are more concerned with leaks than with the safety of children, the Los Angeles County supervisors ordered an investigation of what they termed “inappropriate disclosure of confidential child welfare information” to the Los Angeles Times. -db
Los Angeles Times
August 18, 2010
By Rong-Gong Lin II
In a contentious 4-1 vote, Los Angeles County [...]

Redondo Beach city attorney warns of pitfalls to social networking in local government

Redondo Beach has launched social networking pilots to create greater transparency and public participation, but the city attorney warns of complications concerning California’s open meeting law, the First Amendment and the expense of maintaining the sites. -db
Redondo Beach News
August 18, 2010
By Sascha Bush
The City Attorney’s office spoke to the Redondo Beach City [...]

A&A: “Briefings” on controversial project really serial meetings?

Q: The planning commission was given six days to review a 117 page packet for a very controversial project for the gateway of our city, which has not been developed.
The day before the commission hearing, the city manager held a series of “briefing” meetings with groups of the 2-3 planning commissioners at a time (our [...]

Open government: Pasadena creates secret review boards to advise police chief

Legal experts say that California’s open meetings law does not allow cities to create secret advisory committees not open to the public. -db
Pasadena Star-News
August 14, 2010
By Brenda Gazzar
PASADENA – Open government advocates said city officials should release the names of members of two secret review boards that advise the police chief.
At least one expert [...]

Los Angeles County investigates improper release of information on child death and neglect cases

Los Angeles County have asked departments to investigate inappropriate disclosure of child welfare information, but in making the request in a closed meeting, according to legal experts, have violated the California’s open meeting law, the Brown Act. -db
Los Angeles Times
August 15, 2010
By Lisa Girion
Los Angeles County officials are investigating information released regarding a [...]

California school district adopts changes to comply with open meeting law

To comply with California’s open meetings law, the Brown Act, the Fillmore Unified School District board of trustees changed its policies on banning recording of its meetings and their requirement that speakers to the board provide an address before making comments. -db
m.vcstar.com
August 4, 2010
By Cheri Carlson
Fillmore Unified School District trustees have made some changes to [...]

San Diego County: Advisory groups in unincorporated areas must comply with California open meeting laws

A California state agency has informed San Diego County that its advisory group members in unincorporated areas were public officials and must comply with state laws governing officials including open meetings laws. The County has established a number of advisory groups to tap local knowledge in setting policies.-db
Ramona Sentinel
August 9, 2010
By Karen Brainard
San Diego County [...]

Morgan Hill mayor denies violating Brown Act

A citizen accused the Morgan Hill mayor of violating California’s open meeting law when the mayor refused to allow him to speak during a recent city council meeting. The mayor said the man couldn’t speak because he did not fill out a speaker card and give it to the clerk at the start of the [...]

Public seeks access to Oceano Dunes pollution reduction committees

The Air Pollution Control District Board established two committees to develop a plan for the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area but said according to the county counsel, the committee meetings would be closed to the public as they worked out how to reduce emissions contributing to pollution in the area. -db
New Times
July 28, [...]

Alameda: Councilwoman asks DA to close investigation of alleged open meeting violation

Through her attorney, an Alameda city councilwoman has asked the Alameda County District Attorney to drop its inquiry into her alleged leaks of confidential information in violation of California’s open meeting law. -db
Alameda: Attorney for councilwoman asks DA to close investigation of alleged open meeting violation
The Island
July 27, 2910
By Michele Ellson
City Councilwoman Lena Tam’s attorney [...]

Southern California: Alleged Brown Act violation by school district during teleconferencing

The Orange Unified School District board of trustees has allegedly violated the Brown Act, California’s open meeting act in failing to observe the rules governing teleconferencing votes. According to the act, all votes during teleconference must be rollcall votes. -db
Greater Orange News Service
July 26, 2010
With Trustee Kim Nichols participating in the June 10, 2010 OUSD [...]

Public agency pensions: Editorial reaffirms public’s right-to-know

An editorial in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat calls for the Sonoma County employee association to release information on pensioners receiving over $100,000 a year. In a recent case in Sacramento County, a judge ruled that under California’s Brown Act Sacramento County could not keep pension information from the public. -db
Pubilc agency pensions: Editorial reaffirms [...]

Tulare supervisors admit open meeting law violations in holding lunch meetings

In a court filing, the Tulare County supervisors admitted violating California’s open meetings law in holding regular lunch meetings they had earlier claimed were only to bolster their esprit de corp.
Tulare supervisors admit open meeting law violations in  holding lunch meetings
http://www.visaliatimesdelta.com/article/20100721/NEWS01/7210323/Court-filing-Tulare-County-Board-of-Supervisors-admitted-violations-to-open-meetings-law
Visalia Times-Deta
July 21, 2010
By Valerie Gibbons
A new court filing argues that Tulare County supervisors admitted [...]

Southern California: Azusa quarry challenged on open meetings issue

Pasadena Star-News
Duarte intends to make courts decide the fate of Azusa Rock Quarry
By Daniel Tedford, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/23/2010 07:15:06 PM PDT
DUARTE – The city is going to take legal action against Azusa over a recently approved plan to
mine part of the Azusa Rock Quarry near Duarte’s border.
City Council members at their meeting Thursday voted unanimously [...]

A&A: A Group of City Council Staffers Can Constitute a Serial Meeting, too

Q: Our organization arranged a private meeting of some community stakeholders on a issue that will be coming before a city council committee, and we invited members of the staff of the three councilmen who make up that committee. However, we were told that only one staff member could attend, because any more would make [...]

A&A: Engaged couple running for school board a conflict of interest?

Q: I am a journalist preparing a story about two potential members of the local School Board. One is the recent city manager of the city who quit the post and the other is a current councilwoman who is not running for re-election this Nov. Both, though are running for the school board, and the [...]

Stockton: Grand Jury finds three college board trustees in violation of California’s open meetings law

The County Grand Jury has recommended that three members of the San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees be censured for violating the Brown Act,the state’s open meetings law. -db

The Record
June 29, 2010
By Jennifer Torres
STOCKTON — Three members of the San Joaquin Delta College Board of Trustees should be censured for violating the state’s open-meetings [...]

Northern California: College trustee accuses professors of open meeting violation

A college of the Redwoods trustee has alleged that the Academic Senate violated California’s open meeting law, the Brown Act, by holding secret meetings. The salvo is part of an ongoing dispute between the professors and the trustees over budget cuts. -db
The North Coast Journal
June 24, 2010
By Ryan Burns

College of the Redwoods Trustee George Truett [...]

Sunnyvale: Grand Jury claimed city council violated state open meeting law

A Santa Clara County grand jury reported that the Sunnyvale City Council violated the Brown Act, California’s open government law by appointing an interim council member in 2009 without providing adequate public notice. -db
San Jose Mercury News
June 22, 2010
By John dugan
The Sunnyvale City Council violated the Brown Act, California’s open government policy, when it appointed [...]

A&A:Board Conducting Public’s Business Via Private Emails

Q: It became apparent yesterday morning that the Board of Directors of our Community Services District is conducting a significant portion of its business via email.  The emails would have originated from at least six personal private computers. Such email has not been made part of the public record. Under CPRA I have [...]

A&A: Shining A Light on Secretive Golf-Course Committee

Q: In our California community a golf course authority has been set up with a board of directors that is composed of city staff members (subordinates of the city manager), the city manager, an appointee of the city manager, and an appointee of the development company that developed the area around [...]

A&A: Does short notice of public hearing invalidate contract?

Q: DMV code requires a Public Hearing before entering into a Red-Light Camera Contract. I contend the new contract our city council has approved is invalid because the requirement for a public hearing was not met. The city manager proposed a new contract when the current contract expires June 30. The Public Hearing was [...]

Tulare: Suit brought over alleged violations of open meeting and public records laws

Eight Tulare citizens filed suit over actions by the city council who met twice in closed session to discuss the city manager’s complaints against a councilman. The lawsuit holds among other things that the closed session did not meet conditions of the Brown Act, California’s open meeting law, for holding a closed session. -db

Tulare Advance-Register
June [...]

Adelanto: School board member alleges Brown Act violation

A member of the Adelanto School District board claims that the superintendent and board president committed the district to the second round of the Race to the Top program without public discussion. -db

Victor Valley Daily Press
June 14, 2010
By Natasha Lindstrom
ADELANTO, Calif. – A member of the Adelanto School District Board of Trustees is accusing [...]

Brown Act: Editorial opposes change to open meeting law

To save government agencies money, the Senate Budget Committee wants to suspend the requirement that agendas be posted 72 hours in advance. -db

Merced Sun-Star
Editorial
June. 11, 2010
The same money problems that saw 2009 become the newspaper industry’s worst financial year in history now threaten a key part of the public’s right to know.
The state Senate’s Budget [...]

Fontana: Mayor concerned about outbursts during meetings

The Fontana City Council is faced with the problem of enforcing the city’s law against citizens’ interrupting a meeting while upholding free speech rights and the Brown Act, California’s open meetings law. -db
Contra Costa Times
June 9, 2010
By Josh Dulaney
FONTANA – It may not be a high crime, but heckling during City Council meetings might be [...]

A&A: Can ID Be Required to Make Public Comment?

Q: At City Council and Planning Commission meetings they have a sign next to the public-comment podium that says “Please state your name.”I think it might even ask for address.  I believe it is in violation of the Brown Act to require people to say their names. It is important in [...]

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