Agenda Item No. 7
CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council DATE: February 11, 2025 FROM: Matthew Bronson, City Manager
PREPARED BY: City Attorney’s Office
SUBJECT: Brown Act Overview
RECOMMENDATION
Receive an overview on Brown Act requirements related to City governance.
BACKGROUND
The Brown Act, Government Code section 54950 et seq., regulates many aspects of local public agency meetings in both open and closed sessions. The companion statute for state agencies is the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, Government Code section 11120 et seq. The Brown Act and Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act require that all meetings of legislative bodies be open to the public, except for authorized closed sessions. The Legislature adopted the Brown Act in 1964 and substantively overhauled the Brown Act in 1993. The Legislature periodically makes substantive and technical changes to the Brown Act.
Since 1993, there have been two voter approved amendments to the California Constitution which affect the Brown Act, Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act, and the California Public Records Act.
The first amendment in 2004 (Proposition 59), mandated that the Acts be broadly construed in furtherance of the public’s “right of access to information concerning the conduct of the people’s business.” Proposition 59 made no substantive changes to these Acts. The next amendment was in 2014 (Proposition 42) and expanded upon the constitutional mandate of Proposition 59 by making compliance with both the Brown Act and the Public Records Act mandatory even if the State Legislature suspends reimbursable mandates for compliance with those laws. As with Proposition 59, Proposition 42 made no substantive changes to these Acts.
Since 2014, Brown Act amendments have also included the ability to remove disruptive individuals from meetings (SB 1100), revised guidelines for remote participation by legislative body members (AB 2302) and added provisions for closed sessions regarding cybersecurity threats.
This presentation will provide an overview of Brown Act requirements related to City governance and an opportunity for questions and comments from the Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact from this item.
ALTERNATIVES
N/A
Staff Report: Brown Act Overview Page 2
February 11, 2025
PUBLIC NOTIFICATION
The agenda was posted in accordance with the Brown Act.
Attachments
None