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Well, if you've started watching the city council meetings on television, there's a
strong chance that you hear them talk about The Brown Act. So, what is this
"Brown Act" anyway?
The Brown Act is actually part of the California Government Code, Sections
54950-54962. It was enacted in 1988, and is officially known as the Ralph M Brown Act.
Enough with the history, how does the Brown Act effect you? The Brown Act
was enacted to attempt to shed some light on backdoor politics. It basically states that all
local governments must:
- Post notice and an agenda for their meetings, typically at least 72
hours prior to the meeting.
- Notify the media of special meetings.
- Hold meetings in the jurisdiction of the agency.
- Not require a "sign in" for anyone.
- Allow non-disruptive recordings and broadcast of meetings.
- Allow the public to address them.
- Conduct only public votes with no secret ballots.
- Treat all distributed documents as public.
Furthermore, the Brown Act also states that if more than a majority of the
members get together, or even communicate together (four in the case of the
Newport Beach City Council),
then they are subject to the provisions of the Brown Act.
That's about it, in a nutshell. Of course there are exceptions to almost each rule,
and since we don't claim to be experts on law or the Brown Act, we'll refer you to
thefirstamendment.org,
where you can learn all about it.
Enjoy...
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