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A&A: Attorneys present at closed meetings

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Attorneys present at closed meetings Q: I have a question about closed sessions. We want to update our Board of Directors on current litigation against our hospital. However, we don’t necessarily need to have our attorney present to do so. Is this valid closed-session subject matter? And if so, do we need to list the litigation that will be discussed? A: Government Code 54956.9 allows legislative bodies (which includes hospital districts) to hold closed sessions

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Swearing in public commenters at open meetings

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Swearing in public commenters at open meetings Q: A local city council has adopted various new rules for members of the public wishing to address the council.  The most concerning issue is: “The presiding officer may require any person to be sworn as a witness before addressing the council on any subject.” They go onto to state that anyone making false statements may be held to answer to criminal penalties.   They have invoked this “swearing

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A&A: Workshops v. Special Meetings

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Workshops v. Special Meetings Q: Today I walked out of a special meeting called in less then 72 hours which was labeled board special meeting/workshop. It was just a workshop called to discuss how to deal with the media. I asked for our attorneys opinion in this, and they felt that since we posted the agenda 24 hours in advance of the meeting it was ok, and no laws would be broken if we went

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A&A: Little League, Pop Warner, and open meeting laws

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Little League, Pop Warner, and open meeting laws Q: Are non-profit youth sports organizations (like Pop Warner, Little League, etc.)  subject to the “open meetings” laws? If not, do you know what? A: As a general rule, open meeting laws, like the Brown Act, only apply to government agencies.  If Pop Warner and Little League are run by private entities, not governmental agencies, then the general rule would be that the open meetings laws would

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A&A: Quorums, Listservs, and the Brown Act

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Quorums, Listservs, and the Brown Act Q: I am a member of the faculty at a California Community College and a member of the Academic Senate.  The Academic Senate is governed by the Brown Act.  The faculty have a listserv–electronic discussion forum.  If a quorum or more members of the Senate are subscribed to the listserv (closed to all but faculty as subscribers), is there a Brown Act violation potential if–say–an issue that might come

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