Special City Council meeting for Brown Act/AB 1234 training and city manager interviews

Words many hear when dealing with public agencies are the words "Brown Act." These words have also been used many times recently in complaints about the South Lake Tahoe City Council. But how many understand their meaning and how they came about?

On Monday, April 30, the City Council will hold a special meeting to take care of a few items prior to their May 1 meeting, and a training on the Brown Act and AB 1234 are part of that.

The meeting starts at 3:00 p.m. with the training the second item on the agenda. Leah Castella of the law firm that employs the City Attorney, Burke, Williams & Sorenson will handle the training and the public is invited to attend and watch.

The Brown Act passed in the California Legislature in 1953 to guarantees the public’s right to attend and participate in meetings of local legislative bodies.

The original 686 word statute has grown substantially over the years. It was enacted in response to mounting public concerns over informal, undisclosed meetings held by local elected officials. City councils, county boards, and other local government bodies were avoiding public scrutiny by holding secret "workshops" and "study sessions." The Brown Act solely applies to California city and county government agencies, boards, and councils. The Act has been interpreted to apply to email communication as well, leading to restrictions on the number of parties that can be copied on electronic messages.

This is why City Council cannot participate in conversation with the public when they speak prior to the council meetings as the subject is not publicly agendized. This is also why a city manager is needed to guide the council on what they can, and cannot do during a meeting. It also covers their being in public and no ore than two can be together at any one time and discuss business.

Cities, counties and special districts in California are required by law (AB 1234) to provide ethics training to their local officials. Castella will also cover this training.

Candidates for the interim city manager position are Dirk Brazil, the former city manager for Davis, Calif., Steven Duran, the former city manager for the cities of Antioch and Hercules, Calif.; Robert Perrault, former city manager of Colfax and Grover Beach, Calif., and former interim city manager for Greenfield, Calif.; James Hock, former city manager for Joliet, Ill., Park Ridge, Ill., and Oak Park, Mich.; James Holgersson, former interim city manager for Moraga, Calif., and former city manager for Modesto, Calif., Arlington, Tex., and Waco, Tex.. Those interviews will start at 6:00 p.m. and each interview can take up to 30 minutes. There were seven candidates but one pulled out for the running as they accepted another interim city manager position.