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firstamendment

A&A: Time restrictions on public comment at public meetings

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Time restrictions on public comment at public meetings Q: I am the chair sunshine task force and it came up in our recent meeting that mayor has recently, on occasion, limited public comments at council meetings to one minute rather than the normal two minutes because 25-20 people wanted to speak and the council meeting was “going late” at 10-11 pm and the council wanted to go home I am aware that California law does

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A&A: Closed meeting votes and the Brown Act

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Closed meeting votes and the Brown Act Q: Under the Brown Act, can a sitting city council conduct a secret vote (no public notification) whether to consider a legally filed candidate for a city commission appointment, and then, refuse to make public how each council member voted or how the tally went when they do appoint candidates to a commission? A: The Brown Act prohibits action by secret ballot.  Gov. Code § 54953(c) (“[n]o legislative

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A&A: Appointing board members and the Brown Act

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Appointing board members and the Brown Act Q: Our school has a board director nomination policy. It says, “Board vacancies will be widely advertised in the regional media and to countywide educational and non-profit organizations in order to reach a broad population.  Applications for Board service shall be made available to the public on the school website and only those applications received by November 1st of the year prior to elections will be considered.  New

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A&A: The Brown Act and Charter Schools

firstamendment June 13, 2009

The Brown Act and Charter Schools Q: A local public charter school has elected eight people to their Board of Directors this year. This is a public charter school. It is also a 501.c.3 non-profit corporation. The board of directors is self-selecting, self-electing. Each time a person was elected to the board, either as an interim officer (Treasurer) or as a new board member, the process was listed under Action Items on the Agenda. The

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A&A: Open meeting law and homeowners associations

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Open meeting law and homeowners associations Q: I own property at a lake, a managed community with a HOA. Since inception, the community has had several amenities including a golf course, lake, tennis courts etc. Since inception, waterskiing has been allowed on the lake, although the hours of operation have been continuously limited over the years. 2 years ago, a group of homeowners got together and tried to reduce the number of ski hours by

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