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A&A: Spanish Translator at School Board Meetings

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Spanish Translator at School Board Meetings Q: At a recent school board meeting attended by 600 community members and staff, the district attempted to deny translation of the meeting.  80% of the audience was Spanish speaking.  Is the district required to provide a translator if needed? A: With respect to the meetings of local government bodies such as school boards, the public’s right to attend, receive notice of, and otherwise access those meetings is governed

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A&A: Planning a Closed Session to Allow Confidential Documents

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Planning a Closed Session to Allow Confidential Documents Q: For a lawsuit between two city board members and the city board, which is run as a corporation, the parties have reached an agreement to allow the board members to access documents in closed session so that it will be covered under the Brown Act. Can a government entity plan a session to fall under the Brown Act to keep information confidential on hiring documents when

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A&A: Unposted Supporting Documents and Public Comment on those Documents

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Unposted Supporting Documents and Public Comment on those Documents Q: The County Board of Supervisors had an agenda item that has been hotly contested for a number of years by this unincorporated community.  Before the meeting, this item was posted.  The “findings of fact” that support the item were not.  These “findings” were not made available to the public until one and a half hours before the meeting.  In fact one of the supervisors complained

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A&A: Non-English Speaking Participants at City Council Meetings

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Non-English Speaking Participants at City Council Meetings Q: In my immediate neighborhood are several non-english speaking neighbors. Recently, some of my neighbors have shared their frustration at not being able to participate in City Council Meetings, either because of the language barrier or because they have to be at work at the same times meetings are held. If my neighbors write letters in Spanish, am I allowed to read and translate these letters for the

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A&A: Brown Act Requirements and Prohibitions in Relation to Community College Governments

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Q: This question relates to the Brown Act, which, pursuant to an Attorney General Opinion, applies to community college student governments. Recently, the student designated to post the notice of our student senate (our legislative body) meeting failed, because of illness, to post it by 3 p.m. Sunday for a meeting the following Wednesday at 3 p.m., though all members and advisors received e-mail copies on time. The agenda was late-posted by 9 a.m. on

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