Asked & Answered

Q: We believe that one of our city council members has been using her personal emails, text messages and Facebook to discuss city-related business and spread rumors, false information to local residents in order to sway public opinion and silence public record requests. It is our belief that she is specifically choosing to use her personal email when having these discussions in order to circumvent the ability to have these discussions of city business with

SUBMITTED | APRIL 15, 2020 Q: Across California and in my backyard developers are putting in plans, and cities have been starting public comment time clocks without the public’s ability to assemble and easily read the documents. This is especially true for those whoa re disabled, without internet access or who don’t have the skill to load and read hundreds of pages of small print documents and drawings on the internet. Per the 2015 census,

SUBMITTED | APRIL 20, 2020 Q: I am writing on behalf of many people in my community who believe that county government is violating the COVID-19 shelter-in-place directives of California Gov. Newsom and the local county Health officer, and the intent of the Brown Act. We seek any help, resources, or pressure you can provide to remedy the problem, as quickly as possible. Many of us have requested in writing and in phone-in comments that

SUBMITTED | MAY 5, 2020 Q: Has the public comment requirement (Gov. Code, § 54954.3 subd. (a).) changed after Governor Newsom’s executive order? A: In March, Governor Newsom issued executive orders N-25-20 and N-29-20, which temporarily suspended any Brown Act requirements “expressly or impliedly requiring the physical presence of members, the clerk or other personnel of the body, or of the public as a condition of participation in or quorum for a public meeting” during the COVID-19 crisis. Order N-29-20 also states:  “A local

SUBMITTED | JULY 9, 2020 Q: Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, churches and church members have been banned far too long from practicing their religious beliefs. I had to cancel my wedding. I had to cancel my daughter’s baptism. It was of great importance to my family since we were naming her after my 95-year-old grandmother. A day to honor my grandmother and bless my child. We no longer have the right to do this in