Asked & Answered

Q: The mayor of our city proposed for new Rules of Decorum in light of recent community unrest and the public wanting to express community concerns and distrust in the city officials and business. 1. Can the rules dictate what a community member wants to speak on during regular general public comment? (non agenda items and not during a public hearing) 2. Can the rules dictate whether other community members are allowed to repeat or

Q: I am seeking records from a local school district that is, I believe, withholding public information by inaccurately citing student privacy. I am looking for advice. A: If the records you seek pertain to a specific student, the school district may claim the records are exempt, under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C. § 1232g, which is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. Although the CPRA itself

Q: I requested and received emails from the City regarding a developer’s plan that was not made public. The mayor and a council member met before a public hearing in which the agenda was changed at the last minute. The vote was 4-1 in favor of the road we were promised would not go in. Does this violate the Brown Act? A: The Brown Act, requires that a legislative body subject to the Act must post

Q: I recently filed several California Public Records Act requests with a local police department. Some were fulfilled, some were blanket denied. I was hoping I could get some advice on where to go next to help further my reporting into the matter. A: For the record requests that were denied, you may want to consider writing a follow up letter to the agency asking why the records were denied and which exemptions to the

Q: Our Community College covers a broad service area—including seveal communities and military posts. We post agendas in all locations (locked, glass front display cases) where the agenda can be access at all times, 72 hours or more in advance. We use roll call to identify all attendees, and roll call to identify all votes, though for approval of minutes and other non-controversial business we ask first if there is an objection, if we hear none,