Q: I’m wondering whether my city violated the Brown Act (or other law) when the City Council decided in closed session to issue a statement criticizing the city’s mayor and defending an earlier vote. The background is that the mayor had attempted to veto an amended contract for the city manager, which the city attorney says is not allowed under the city’s charter. The mayor has said he is considering going to court to establish that

Q: Last June, my local City Council approved a $120,000 contract to a lobbying firm to work on a pending piece of legislation. The approval was in closed session and labeled as “Pending Litigation.”  Under the Brown Act, do I have legal grounds to pursue a Cease & Desist order? [su_button url=”https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/legal-hotline” target=”blank” style=”flat” background=”#7da1fa” color=”#0b0707″ size=”5″ wide=”yes” center=”yes” radius=”0″ desc=”Click Here!” class=”div { font-size:x-small; }”]Have a Brown Act question? Ask FAC’s free Legal Hotline for

Q: I serve as a trustee on a California school board, and I have a Brown Act-related question. At our next board meeting we will be discussing whether to allow exemptions to the ban on carrying concealed weapons on campus (under SB 707). There is some move toward having the discussion in closed session on the grounds that it could potentially involve litigation and become a union issue. Given that there’s no actual litigation, existing