Roundup: California open government law in action

A fuzzy area merged concerning the Brown Act, California’s open meeting act, when a resident challenged the Upland mayor in gathering a consensus apart from an official meeting to cancel a town hall meeting. First Amendment Coalition’s Peter Scheer said he thought that council members had the latitute to make clerical decisions without public scrutiny but to promote good will and transparency could also elect to put such discussions on a town Facebook page. (Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, May 12, 2014, by Liset Marquez)

A superior court judge ruled that Monterey County supervisors had not violated the Brown Act in holding closed door sessions to discuss the performance of the water board manager. Residents were concerned that the supervisors had discussed important policies during the sessions. (Monterey County Weekly, May 13, 2014, by Sara Rubin)

A Santa Rosa task force called for more light on local government suggesting that the city should write a sunshine ordinance that exceeds the minimum requirements of the Brown Act. (The Press Democrat, May 1, 2014, by Kevin McCallum)