FAC Legal Director David Loy (on screen) and Press Education Specialist Thad Greenson (at podium) answer questions from the audience about the Brown Act, California’s primary open meetings law. Photo: Madison Holcomb
In my two decades as a reporter in Humboldt County, I went to a lot of public agency meetings, from the board of supervisors to city councils and school boards to water districts. Occasionally, one would draw a packed crowd, with rows of residents eager to make their voices heard or just to be in the room where an impactful decision was going to be made. More often than not, though, these rooms were nearly empty. Sometimes, I was the only member of the public in attendance.
Apathy, I came to feel, was one of the largest obstacles to obtaining a fully functional democracy.
That apathy, I say without reservation, is not an issue facing Shasta County. At the invite of the nonprofit news organization Shasta Scout, I recently moderated a Know Your Rights event co-hosted by American Community Media and walked into a side room of the Shasta County Public Library to find dozens of people ready to learn about California open meetings law and how to make sure their voices are heard.
It was a meeting about meetings, as they say, yet the room was full.
The subject was timely, to be sure. A few days earlier the Shasta County Board of Supervisors held a contentious meeting to consider the censure of the county’s registrar of voters for alleged managerial misconduct. Tempers flared, members of the audience were repeatedly admonished to keep quiet, several were ordered to leave and one was arrested.
Our Know Your Rights event had been on the calendar for months at that point, but we took the opportunity to use controversy generated by the meeting as a teachable moment. With FAC Legal Director David Loy — one of California’s go-to experts on government transparency laws — participating by video, we used a question-and-answer format to use the recent real-world examples to ask about California’s primary open meeting law, the Ralph M. Brown Act, the rights of public commenters, what legally constitutes a disruption, what suffices as advance notice of an agenda item and more.
Audience members brought plenty of their own questions, too, and many told me afterward they were leaving with a better understanding of the law, even if they didn’t like all the answers they heard.
For years before I joined FAC I leaned heavily on its free legal hotline, reaching out with questions about public records law, court access and the Brown Act. I found it to be an invaluable resource, especially for a reporter and editor in a rural community who didn’t have regular access to legal counsel. The responses I received not only helped me navigate the immediate challenge I was facing or publish the story I was working on, but also left me with a better understanding of the law and how government is supposed to work.
That was the goal for our community event in Shasta — to give a room full of engaged residents a better understanding of how their government is supposed to work under the rules we as a state have put in place.
It was honestly a joy to be a part of.
Annelise Pierce, Shasta Scout founder and director, whose newsroom focuses heavily on civic life and government accountability, saw the desire in her increasingly polarized community. “We appreciate the opportunity to inform every member of the public, regardless of their political ideology or beliefs,” Pierce wrote to her readers after the program. “Civic engagement is the heart of a healthy community. Thanks for being in community with us.”
I’d driven out to Shasta from my home north of Eureka that morning, stopping in the town of Weaverville (population 4,000) to meet a reporter from the Trinity Journal, which started publishing in 1856 with handset type and reportedly has never missed an issue. Over lunch, I talked with him about some obstacles he’s faced with a few records requests, an upcoming series he’s excited about and life as a reporter in the small town.
As I got on the road home later that night, after the Know Your Rights event and getting to spend some time having similar conversations with Shasta Scout’s small staff, I watched the sun set over the Trinity Mountains and reflected on how education and good journalism are vital tools to combat the apathy imperiling our democracy.
And I reflected on how fortunate we are that California has an organization and partners that believe government transparency and a free press are as important in rural communities as they are in the big cities.
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