California Municipal Law Blog

Governor’s Latest Executive Order further Suspends Portions of Brown Act

by on March 22, 2020

posted in Meetings,

On March 21, 2020, the Governor issued the latest of many executive orders concerning the COVID-19 public-health emergency.  This most recent order addresses a number of subjects, including local agency meetings under the Brown Act.  As to these meetings, the order suspends the Act’s prohibition against taking action on “off-agenda” business items under limited circumstances.  ... Continue Reading

tags: Brown Act, COVID-19, Executive Order, Off-Agenda Items,

Governor Suspends Deadlines for Converting to District Elections

by on March 21, 2020

posted in Elections,

On March 20, the Governor issued another in a series of executive orders related to the COVID-19 public-health emergency that, among other things, suspended the deadlines related to the process of converting from at-large to district elections.  Specifically, the order suspends the deadlines provided in Elections Code section 10010 related to voluntary conversions undertaken in response to claimed violations of the California Voting Rights Act (“CVRA”).  Effectively, this means that cities and special districts that have received demands to convert to district elections, and cities and districts ... Continue Reading

tags: At Large Elections, California Voting Rights Act, COVID-19, District Elections, Executive Order,

URGENT: Updated Executive Order Further Relaxes Public Meeting Requirements Due to COVID-19

by on March 18, 2020

posted in Meetings,

On March 17, 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order No. N-29-20 concerning COVID-19 (the “coronavirus”) that, among other things, supersedes the provisions of Executive Order No. N-25-20 related to partial suspensions of the Brown Act. This previous order and its effect on local agencies was covered in our previous blog post. The new executive order suspends portions of the Brown Act to allow local government to implement recommended or imposed social distancing measures to prevent or slow the spread of the coronavirus.  ... Continue Reading

tags: Brown Act, COVID-19, Public meetings,

OUR RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A MESSAGE TO OUR CLIENTS

by on March 17, 2020

posted in Uncategorised,

Cole Huber LLP finds itself in a unique situation because of the novel Coronavirus (“COVID-19”) public-health emergency.  As a business, our law firm—like all businesses statewide—has implemented the measures the Governor and public health authorities have directed to stop COVID-19’s spread. At the same time, because  of our work for local governments, we have taken important measures to ensure our public clients continue receiving responsive and effective legal services from us during this period of critical need.  ... Continue Reading

tags: Coronavirus, COVID-19, Shelter in Place, Social Distancing,

Urgent: Governor’s COVID-19 Executive Order And Public Meeting Practices

by on March 12, 2020

posted in Meetings,

Today, Governor Newsom issued an executive order concerning COVID-19 (the “coronavirus”) that, among other things, suspended portions of the Brown Act to expand the authorizations of teleconferencing in local public meetings.  The executive order also recommends local agencies implement measures to ensure “social distancing” in their public meetings and events.  “Social distancing” is the practice of keeping appropriate distances (six feet is often recommended) between persons.  ... Continue Reading

tags: Brown Act, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Social Distancing, Teleconferencing,