Join
donate

Search Results for: Notice & agenda requirements for closed meetings

A&A: Emergency agenda items and proper notice requirements

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Emergency agenda items and proper notice requirements Q: My first question is: What is the correct procedure for adding an “emergency” item to a city Council agenda? Recently, a City Council added an “emergency” closed session to its agenda to discuss “anticipated litigation” without any motions or votes. My second question is about anticipated litigation: Must it be described in some fashion when it’s added? A: It is unclear from the information you submitted in

Read More »

A&A: Special Meetings and Means of Notice

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Special Meetings and Means of Notice Q: Three members of a five member board have called for a special meeting, where the selection process of the General Manager of the district was going to be discussed. The president refused to call the meeting, and or to participate in a conference call. The meeting was not called because the General Manager (that will be replaced) replied with this information via the district’s attorney: “The Brown Act

Read More »

A&A: School Boards, Closed Sessions, and Student Files

firstamendment June 14, 2009

Q: I have learned that our school board viewed files of a student in closed session. I learned that the file contains information about the student’s behavior. My further question is: Is there something in law that allows the board to meet in closed session when reviewing such materials? They regularly meet in closed session to deal with student expulsions. A: For the purposes of responding to your question, we assume that the school district

Read More »

A&A: Public notice and disclosure of existing litigation

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Public notice and disclosure of existing litigation Q: Our school district has a closed agenda item with the following sentence. Is this allowed?A) EXISTING LITIGATION(Subdivision (a) of Section 54956.9)Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(a) the Board will confer with legal counsel concerning existing litigation; disclosure of the case name might jeopardize current settlement negotiations.How can the public comment on a case without knowing the case? A: Under Government Code section 54956.9, an agency must identify

Read More »

A&A: City Council names building without notice

firstamendment June 13, 2009

City Council acts on issue not on agenda Q: Earlier this month our mayor – during the oral portion of the city council meeting — stated that he decided to name a city building after a former member of the council who is also a former assemblyman. He asked for unanimous concurrence of the council. Two members of the council questioned the propriety of the action, but the mayor changed the request to a majority

Read More »

A&A: Public Official Event Attendance and Public Notice

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Public Official Event Attendance and Public Notice Q: A City Councilman and City Clerk addressed the local Merchants Association without any public notice and with an “agenda” not made public and that other members of the City Council were not made aware of.  The “agenda” presented was to suggest to the Merchants Association that a redistricting of the business district to allow for retail only. No service industries such as Real Estate, Insurance and Mortgage

Read More »

A&A: Can a special meeting on 24 hours notice include a closed session?

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Can a special meeting on 24 hours notice include a closed session? Q: Regarding Special Meeting, it is an open public meeting and requires a 24 hour notice to inform the public of the upcoming special meeting, what about the closed session meeting? Even though your organization mentioned that closed session can be done even with a 24 hours notice to inform the public of the Special Meeting, there is a law stated that ALL

Read More »

California: School district action on superintendent done without public notice

donal brown March 19, 2012

The Blochman Union School District board put Superintendent Kristin Garrison-Lima on leave in February without voting or posting a meeting notice, a violation of the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law. After a closed meeting during which no action was taken, the board sent the superintendent a letter that notified her she was on paid leave, but there are no records of a meeting held to vote on sending the letter. -db From the

Read More »

Southern California: Chino school board strives to get in sync with open meeting requirements

donal brown November 1, 2010

The Chino Valley Unified School Board is meeting this week to remedy alleged violations of California’s Brown Act, according to one open government advocate, failing to place on agendas anticipated lawsuits discussed in closed sessions. -db San Jose Mercury News November 1, 2010 By Neil Nisperos CHINO – The Chino Valley Unified School District this week is expected to address an apparent Brown Act violation. Richard McKee, the vice president for Open Government Compliance, said

Read More »

A&A: Circumstances for closed meetings

FAC June 13, 2009

Circumstances for closed meetings Q: For what reasons can a legislative body have a closed meeting? A: Meetings of any “legislative body” of a “local agency” as those terms are defined in California Government Code sections 54592 and 549451, respectively, may hold closed sessions for the following reasons: —To discuss and decide whether an applicant for a license or license renewal who has a criminal record is sufficiently rehabilitated to obtain the license (Gov’t Code

Read More »

California: Portola Valley City Council calls closed session without adequate notice

donal brown April 5, 2011

In calling an urgent  closed session at the end of its regular meeting to discuss a real estate deal, the Portola Valley City Council failed to notify the public of the agenda and  time of the meeting 72 hours in advance thereby, according to one expert, violating the Brown Act, the state’s open meeting law. Jim Ewert, legal counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Association, questioned that the council had to take “immediate action.” Ewert

Read More »

Closed Session on Employee Performance

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Closed Session on Employee Performance Q: I am hoping you can tell me whether language that appears in an upcoming school district agenda meets the requirements of the Brown Act. This the language as it appears in the agenda: • Public Employee, to consider appointment, employment, performance evaluation, or dismissal of employee pursuant to GC §54957, as cited in the Brown Act (2 cases). I understand from talking with two members of the Board of

Read More »

A&A: Posting agendas and notification of action in special/closed sessions

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Posting agendas and notification of action in special/closed sessions Q: A School Board is subject to the Brown Act yet a principal was dismissed without cause after a Special meeting /closed session in which no one was notified nor was it posted at the site where the meeting was held (it was posted on a website) nor has the decision been posted for the ten day requirement following the meeting. The staff and parents are in

Read More »

A&A: Opening closed session agenda items by a city council

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Opening closed session in mid-meeting Q: Can a city council vote to open a closed session agenda item for the public record? A: There are at least two possible answers to your question, depending on the particular situation. First, after a closed session, a city council is generally required to disclose certain information about that closed session and any action taken in closed session. What has to be publicly disclosed, and how quickly, depends on

Read More »

A&A: Closed meeting and the Brown Act

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Closed meeting and the Brown Act Q: I’m thinking about writing a letter of cure/correction regarding a pattern of what appear to be Brown Act Violations. The district acted to correct the June 19 violation. According to a story we published previewing a meeting this past Tuesday, July 3: “After closed session on Tuesday, the board is scheduled to convene in open session to vote on ‘Amendment #11’ to the chief’s contract, according to the

Read More »

California: Kern County supervisor agenda item raises suspicions

donal brown May 7, 2012

The listing of job description of the county administrative officer appears nearly every week on the agenda for a closed session of the Kern County Board of Supervisors, a suspicious phenomenon, writes Lois Henry for The Bakersfield Californian. A citizen watchdog says that discussions of job performance, not job description, are exempt from open meetings. -db From a commentary for The Bakersfield Californian, May 5 2012, by Lois Henry. Full story  

Read More »

A&A: Does the 72 hour period for Agenda Amendments include weekends and holidays?

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Does the 72 hour period for Agenda Amendments include weekends and holidays? Q: For an amended agenda, it seems that the amendments must be made 72 hours before the meeting. Does this 72 hour period include weekends and holidays? A: The Brown Act includes weekends and holidays when computing the 72-hour requirement of section 54954.2.  The language of that section provides that “[a]t least 72 hours before a regular meeting, the legislative body of the

Read More »

A&A: Dealing with a cure and correct notice in a closed session

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Dealing with a cure and correct notice in a closed session Q: The school board I am a member received a cure and correct challenge regarding an action taken in closed session to dismiss an employee.  The cure and correct involves whether proper notice was given for the meeting.  The president and superintendent have placed the response to the cure and correct claim on next week’s agenda.  They are saying it is a closed session

Read More »

A&A: Special Meetings and Media Notice

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Special Meetings and Media Notice Q: Regarding Special Meetings: Is the newspaper and/or radio station required to be noticed if a special meeting is called? A: The Brown Act provides that “[a] special meeting may be called at any time by the presiding officer of the legislative body of a local agency, or by a majority of the members of the legislative body, by delivering written notice to each member of the legislative body and

Read More »

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

FAC June 23, 2010

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 noticed on May 18 in a local newspaper for a June 1 meeting, at which time the city council  was to

Read More »