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Asked and Answered

Brown Act

School Board Meetings without Notice

[…] contract negotiations with the teachers' union. The following message appears on the school district website: "When meetings are called regarding negotiations, based on the provisions in California Government Code Section 3549.1, notice is not required to be given to the public." The School board trustees have already held one such "secret" meeting andare intending […]

March 18, 2010
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Does the Brown Act require minutes from city council meetings?

[…] said, the city council's own bylaws will typically address whether minutes must be taken. Bryan Cave LLP is general counsel for the First Amendment Coalition and responds to FAC hotline inquiries. In responding to these inquiries, we can give general information regarding open government and speech issues but cannot provide specific legal advice or representation.

June 5, 2013
Asked and Answered

Brown Act First Amendment

Can someone be arrested for speaking too long at a public meeting?

An activist was arrested at a city council meeting for exceeding the time limit. It’s very loosely enforced by the mayor who allows some people to speak longer and others not to. The decision to target the activist was made earlier by the city attorney who told the police officer the next time this […]

September 11, 2014
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

How do we enforce the Brown Act?

After nearly two years of trying, we finally got a photograph of three of our County Board of Supervisors (we have a five member Board) having lunch together as they regularly do. We can’t take it to the DA as he has been compromised as has our County Counsel. What can we do?

December 22, 2011
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Minutes of City Council meetings don’t tell whole story

A group of citizens allege the city is wrongly leaving out copies of correspondence the city received related to items on its agenda and powerpoint presentations related to agenda items. The council offers a limited number of copies of this information at the city clerk’s desk on the night of the meeting but it […]

March 7, 2014
Asked and Answered

First Amendment

Can ballot arguments be selected based on political content?

This case concerns two opposing ballot arguments filed regarding a county measure, both from bona fide organizations. The elections official decided to evaluate the "quality" of the two arguments, as a means of selecting one for publication. He did not consider flipping a coin or random drawing. He had no decision matrix or identified factors […]

November 10, 2016
Asked and Answered

Bagley-Keene Act Brown Act

What is the Brown Act statute of limitations?

I was fired a year ago, but I am only now reading that the board violated the Brown Act by not disclosing that my position would be discussed in closed session --- 54957. (2) is the violation. I see from your A&A section that there is only only a 90-day window of opportunity to […]

February 3, 2012
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Does Brown Act allow vote to be changed after a meeting adjourns?

I recently witnessed a Planning Commission vote which was changed after adjournment. There is a "protocol" listed on the city's website that says a vote can be changed within 48 hours. That sounds like a violation of the Brown Act to me.

July 10, 2017
Asked and Answered

Brown Act

Does the Brown Act apply to city council appointed committees?

Does the Brown Act apply to city council appointed committees? If it does, how is a city supposed to conduct the necessary extended deliberations critical to producing good decisions regarding (among other things) public services and expenditures of public funds?

August 15, 2015
Asked and Answered

CPRA

Request for sheriff’s homeless policy leads to trouble

[…] the following documents regarding homeless and/or transient people, people sleeping or camping outside,and/or people sitting on public sidewalks: Documents setting forth guidelines, policies, practices or standards used by the sheriff's department regarding homeless and/or transient persons; Documents regarding and/or generated by sheriff's department in their publicly stated campaign to clean-up "illegal camping" sites which […]

March 30, 2010