City-Funded Committees with Non-Public Official Members
Q: The issue is that the City funded a committee of residents to develop a strategy to pass an open space initiative (at one Council meeting the money was referred to as seed money). Two City Council members were on the committee, but have refused to give the names of the other members. The ordinance was passed by the voters, and the City Council has been asked to provide the names of the people that were on the committee. The City was asked this question because there is a concern that individuals that were on the committee may benefit directly or indirectly from land purchases the City will make with the open space tax monies. I would like to know your opinion on the City’s compliance with the Brown Act.
A: As I understand it, your specific question is whether the City is required, under the Brown Act, to provide you with the names of other persons on the committee tasked with developing a strategy to pass an open space initiative.
The Brown Act governs the public’s right to oversee the activities of legislative bodies by mandating certain requirements for agendas, open meetings, notice of meetings, opportunities for the public to address the body, and the like. As a general rule, however, it does not require the legislative body — or the public agency associated with that body
— to answer specific questions posed by members of the public or provide any specific information, except for information the body is required to provide as part of meeting agendas, and information required to be provided as part of the public report of action taken in closed session, as provided by Government Code section 54957.1. However, this wouldn’t cover your current inquiry for a list of names of members of the open space committee.
If you have not already done so, you might consider using the Public Records Act to get the information you’re seeking. Under the PRA, records maintained or owned by public agencies are presumed to be open to public inspection unless one of the Act’s specific exemptions applies. Since it sounds like your oral and email discussions with the city are going nowhere, you might want to send a formal letter request, asking for records “sufficient to show the names of the members of the [name of committee],” or something along those lines. Here is a link to the text of the PRA. Here is a link to a sample request letter: http://www.cfac.org/templates/cpraletter.html
Finally, you should be aware of the possibility that the open space group is itself a legislative body governed by the Brown Act. Under the Brown Act, “a commission, committee, board, or other body of a local agency, whether permanent or temporary, decision-making or advisory, created by charter, ordinance, resolution, or formal action of a legislative body,” such as a committee created by formal city counsel resolution, is itself a legislative body subject to the Brown Act and all of its requirements. Govt. Code section 54952(b).
Unfortunately, we cannot provide specific legal representation or guidance as part of this hotline.