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Search Results for: government bodies must comply with Brown Act, 54951 – Page 3

A&A: Is it a casual dinner or Brown Act violation?

FAC November 16, 2009

Q: If 3 out of 5 school board members meet at a restaurant with a teacher or administrator for a few minutes until they noticed that I was also at the restaurant with my wife, have they violated Brown’s Act? A: Depending on exactly what transpired, the episode you describe could be a violation the Brown Act. The Brown Act “serves to facilitate public participation in all phases of local government decision-making and to curb

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A&A: Are Community College Faculty Senate meetings covered by the Brown Act?

FAC January 30, 2012

Q: I believe Community College Faculty Senates are subject to the Brown Act?  If so, must these bodies disclose how each member voted on an item? I teach at a community college.  My program was asked to make some amendments to an item, otherwise an individual told us she would challenge the matter. We made the amendments. The indivdiual then actually went ahead and challenged the matter at a Faculty Senate open meeting. She also

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A&A: Grounds for Cease & Desist under the Brown Act

FAC March 31, 2016

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

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A&A: Councilmember penalties for Brown Act violations

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Brown Act violation as misdemeanor Q: What are the penalties for a City Council member who violates the Brown Act? A: A member of a City Council can be guilty of a misdemeanor under certain circumstances. Specifically, under California Government Code section 54959, each member of a legislative body who attends a meeting of that legislative body where action is taken in violation of the Brown Act, and “where the member intends to deprive the

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A&A: Inaccurate agenda information at County Board meeting

FAC April 15, 2016

Q: Is it a Brown Act violation to intentionally provide false information on the agenda, agenda description, or supporting documents provided with the agenda for a County Board meeting? A: As you appear to be aware, the Brown Act requires legislative bodies to post an agenda for all meetings.  “At least 72 hours before a regular meeting, the legislative body of the local agency, or its designee, shall post an agenda containing a brief general

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A&A: Reporters wrongly ejected from community college council meeting?

FAC July 19, 2013

Q: I am working on a story about how two of our reporters were ejected from a college council meeting. The chair of the committee believes that their body is not subject to the Brown Act. This committee makes planning, budget and policy recommendations to the college president. A: The official student body associations of community colleges are subject to the Brown Act (see 75 Ops. Cal. Atty. Gen. 143 (1992), an opinion of the

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Open government laws seen as benefit rather than burden

donal brown January 28, 2010

An attorney and newly elected member of the Modesto Schools board sets out the benefits of complying with California’s open meeting laws including the value of hearing a wide range of views from other members of the public bodies and from the public itself. -DB Modesto Bee January 27, 2010 By Ruben Villalobos For more than 50 years, local public agencies in California have been guided by the principles of open government and transparency established

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A&A: Brown Act Requirements and Prohibitions in Relation to Community College Governments

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Q: This question relates to the Brown Act, which, pursuant to an Attorney General Opinion, applies to community college student governments. Recently, the student designated to post the notice of our student senate (our legislative body) meeting failed, because of illness, to post it by 3 p.m. Sunday for a meeting the following Wednesday at 3 p.m., though all members and advisors received e-mail copies on time. The agenda was late-posted by 9 a.m. on

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A&A: County Bar Association and the CPRA and Brown Act

firstamendment June 14, 2009

Q: I am reading the Attorney General opinion concerning the private cable company that must comply with open meeting and records requests — would this apply to a local County Bar Association which has been delegated certain county functions.  It would seem to me that it would; but they are taking a very aggressive stance with me as I try to ask these questions. A: It sounds like you are talking about the 2002 AG

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71 Ops. Cal. Atty. Gen. 96 Brown Act Requires Open Meeting of Air Pollution Control District Board (1988)

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Office of the Attorney General State of California 71 Ops. Cal. Atty. Gen. 96 Opinion No. 87-1205 March 24, 1988 THE CALIFORNIA AIR RESOURCES BOARD THE CALIFORNIA AIR RESOURCES BOARD has requested an opinion on the following questions: Does the Ralph M. Brown Act require the deliberations of a hearing board of an air pollution control district, after it has conducted a public hearing on a variance, order of abatement, or permit appeal, to be

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Emails and the Public Record and Brown Act

firstamendment June 14, 2009

Emails and the Public Record and Brown Act Q: A member of a public board has been carrying on an email conversation with me about matters before the board, copying all the other members of the board on his messages to me.  Is this email thread (1) a public record, and (2) a violation of the Brown Act? A: Public Records Act A public record is defined by Section 6252(e) of the California Government Code

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A&A: Is public college “executive board” subject to Brown Act?

FAC May 22, 2013

Q: The Academic Senate of our public college has an established body called the Academic Executive Board, which is made up of seven or so members (including the president, vice president, etc.) of the Academic Senate. The Executive Board meets regularly and the Academic Senate bylaws state the meeting must be open to the public. The overall consensus of the Executive Board is that the meeting should be open to the public. (This issue was

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Labor negotiations and the Brown Act

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Labor negotiations and the Brown Act Q: Our public school board evaluated the principal and voted to give him a raise, in a closed session, which I understand is legal since the evaluation is confidential. Should the vote on the bonus remain secret? I asked to know the breakdown of which board members voted which way on the bonus. Is that information protected against public disclosure? I did not ask the amount of the bonus,

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A&A: Selling property and public input

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Selling property and public input Q: Can a city sell property with just a closed session hearing? No open public hearing on the sale was held. A: Government Code section 54956.8 permits a legislative body to meet in closed session to advise its negotiator concerning the “price” and “terms of payment” in connection with the purchase, sale, lease or exchange of property by or for the agency. A California appellate court stated that the purpose

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A&A: Brown Act violations in closed session real-property negotiations

FAC September 8, 2016

Q: The City Council on held a real property negotiation in closed session without meeting the requirement to disclose the party being negotiated with. This has occurred three times before, and was recorded by me on June 1. I want to delay the sale of the properties being negotiated. I need to know how to use the “Cure and Correct” action to cause the Council to have to invalidate the property sale. I am not sure

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A&A: Are city council subcommittees Brown Act-exempt?

FAC September 21, 2012

Q: I am trying to get some skeleton data on a new crop of Brown Act-exempt City Council subcommittees. I requested the subcommittees’ mission statements, which I assumed were set out prior to commencement. Some have had four meetings thus far, and one as many as seven meetings. I have not received a response regarding the composition and purpose of the subcommittees with purported need to await an absent city manager’s writing up of, or coming

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A&A: Are the Board of Directors of our Apartment Complex subject to the Brown Act?

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Are the Board of Directors of our Apartment Complex subject to the Brown Act? Q: We are a tenant association in which we have been encountering regular difficulty in dealings with our Board of Directors.  HUD subsidizes our apartment complex, and the Board of Directors was formed in 1967 to govern the running of this complex.  They also were given a regulatory agreement in a contract with HUD, since HUD insures the note of the

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A&A: City Council Met Prior to Public Meeting and Made Last-Minute Agenda Changes

FAC May 17, 2018

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

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Prop. 42 Background from the Legislative Analyst’s Office

FAC April 23, 2014

California has thousands of local governments. Californians receive services from thousands of local governments—counties, cities, school and community college districts, and special districts (such as fire districts, flood control districts, and water districts). Each local government has a local governing body (such asa city council or county board of supervisors) that makes decisions about its programs, services, and operations. Public Access to Local Government Information. The State Constitution requires that meetings of governing bodies and writings of public officials and agencies

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CSU foundations must be more open to public, panel says

FAC March 22, 2011

More than 90 foundations and private enterprises operate on California State University campuses, but it’s unclear how much of the $1.2 billion under their control should be subject to public scrutiny, an internal audit concludes. The audit panel, consisting of four campus presidents, five finance officers, a vice president and a student, said that accounting procedures are so unclear that public and private money is commingled. What’s more, the law should be changed to bring

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