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A&A: Fee to place political campaign signs

FAC January 9, 2013

Q: In my community, any person, business, campaign organization, or other entity who proposes to post or display more than five off-site event signs shall obtain a permit, pay a fee and/or deposit to the Code Enforcement Division: • No person, business, campaign organization, other entity may apply for more than one (1) off-site event sign permit that relates to signs that are identical or substantially similar. • Off-site event sign permit approval sticker shall

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A&A: Does the CPRA allow use of iPhone to photograph public records?

FAC January 9, 2013

Q: The County Recorders Office prohibits the use of hand scanners or digital cameras in its Public Documents room and requires researchers to purchase document copies from them. Is this restriction legal ? A: The California Public Records Act (CPRA), in pertinent part, only requires that an agency’s records be “open for inspection”, Govt. Code section 6253(a), and that “upon request for a copy of records . . . [the agency] shall make the records

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A&A: What does Brown Act say about board members’ having secret affair?

FAC January 9, 2013

Q: In a board of five members, two are having a sexual affair with each other. Both have spouses and children, yet “secret” affair  is so obvious that the the story  has been published on a local news website.  We suspect vote collusion, conflict of interest and Brown act violations.  The school district has refused to investigate the allegations. What can we do? A: The Brown Act has as its sole focus the extent to

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Google’s Antitrust Wrist Slap Is Right Result for Wrong Reason. Right Reason: Google Search Results are Protected Speech

FAC January 7, 2013

By PETER  SCHEER–Christmas 2013 came early for Google as the Federal Trade Commission, following a two-year investigation into allegations of anticompetitive practices, announced a settlement that spares Google a battle royal with the government over its core business: the selection and presentation of search results. Although the FTC extracted concessions from Google in other areas, the agency rejected the central charge — lodged by Google competitors who were unnamed but presumably include Microsoft — that

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Bert Robinson, veteran reporter, editor and open government advocate joins FAC Board

FAC January 4, 2013

We are pleased to welcome Bert Robinson to the FAC Board of Directors. Robinson is managing editor of content for the Bay Ara News Group overseeing the San Jose Mercury News, Contra Costa Times and Oakland Tribune. “Bert is a life-long newspaper man having worked for the Mercury News since graduating from the Columbia University journalism program,” FAC Board Member James Chadwick said in nominating Robinson to the board. “More importantly for FAC, I’ve not

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