Asked & Answered

Filing a Vacancy by Closed Session Appointment Q: The local School Board filled a vacancy on the Board by appointment.  The filing deadline for interested applicants was 6 hours prior to the beginning of the School Board meeting.  The appointment decision was made at that meeting. Should the agenda state the names of the applicants who were interviewed during the meeting? If a public citizen asked to see the application material and was turned down,

Individual Meetings for Review Q: Does the following constitute a violation of the Brown Act’s prohibition on serial informal meetings? An architect of a controversial project in Palo Alto met individually with 4 of 5 members of the Architectural Review Board following a particularly negative public review. It seems his purpose was to get feedback on his designs and try to shape them in a way the board would approve at an upcoming review. At

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

Board Voting While Board Member Out of the Room Q: A board member left the room for a few minutes when the board was voting on the agenda items. During her absence the board president would cast a vote of abstention for the board member who had left the room. This occurred on about 4 items.  When the board member returned she noticed the votes but said nothing.  Is this not a violation of the