by Derek P. Cole on August 15, 2016
posted in
Meetings, Recent Court Decisions,
When a person raises an issue not on a meeting agenda, how much can council or board members discuss the issue without running afoul of the Brown Act? A recent court case provides some helpful guidance.
In Cruz v. Culver City, a California appellate court held that a six-minute discussion about how to place an item on a future agenda did not violate the Brown Act. Fortunately for local agencies, the court rejected a challenge to the discussion that had relied on a hyper-technical reading of the Act’s language.
... Continue Reading
tags:
Agendas, Brown Act, Discussion on Unagendized Items,
by Derek P. Cole on February 1, 2016
posted in
Meetings,
Local agency officials are well aware of the basic requirements for public-meeting agendas. They know, for instance, that agendas for regular meetings must be posted at least 72 hours in advance. In light of legislation that took effect in 2012, they also know that if their agencies post agendas online—which most local agencies now do—the agendas must be posted online within the same timeframe.
But what happens if an agency’s website goes down during the period in which the agenda must be online? Does that mean the agency can’t take any action on any of the business items for the ... Continue Reading
tags:
Brown Act, Online Agendas, Technical Difficulties, Website Outages, Websites,
by Derek P. Cole on July 27, 2015
posted in
Meetings, Recent Court Decisions,
What happens when a meeting agenda refers to the wrong legal authority for a closed-session item an agency considers? If it’s clear to the public what action the agency may take, there is no Brown Act violation. According to a recent court opinion, which dismissed a lawsuit as “hypertechnical,” a mistaken code reference used to describe a closed-session item does not prevent the agency from acting. (Castaic Lake Water Agency v. Newhall County Water District, published July 22, 2015.)
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tags:
Agendas, Brown Act, Closed Sessions, Initiation of Litigation,
by Derek P. Cole on July 13, 2015
posted in
Meetings,
Does the Brown Act sometimes get in the way of good government? According to the Little Hoover Commission, a think-tank agency that studies the performance of state government, the answer is yes. After comprehensively studying how the Brown Act regulates “serial meetings”—discussions that occur among more than two council or board members outside of a noticed public meeting—the Commission has published a report that finds that Act’s serial-meeting provisions may be impeding effective decision-making.
The Commission’s findings are interesting and, in this author’s opinion, probably ... Continue Reading
tags:
Brown Act, Little Hoover Commission, Report, Serial Meetings, Wolfe v City of Fremont,
