TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Mark Danaj, City Manager
FROM:
Quinn Barrow, City Attorney
Nadine Nader, Assistant City Manager
SUBJECT:Title
Adoption of Council Policies regarding Sunshine Provisions, Including Description of Closed Sessions regarding Pending Litigation and Consideration of Settlements in Open Sessions (City Attorney Barrow).
ADOPT POLICY, WITH THE ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS REGARDING CLOSED SESSIONS AND SETTLEMENTS
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the Sunshine Policy, with additional language addressing closed sessions and settlements.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
There are no fiscal implications associated with this action.
BACKGROUND:
The City Council directed the staff to draft the following policies for Council Consideration:
* Incorporating open government and transparency initiatives that the City Council has adopted over the last several years into a "Sunshine Policy."
* Adding to that Sunshine Policy a provision requiring the City to provide the public with more information in the agenda description of closed sessions regarding pending litigation.
* Adding to that Sunshine Policy a provision requiring the City Council to consider all settlements in open sessions.
DISCUSSION:
A. Sunshine Policy.
The primary intent of the Brown Act is that the people's business be conducted openly and transparently. The Brown Act also recognizes that city councils may meet in private with its advisors on specifically enumerated topics, such as litigation. The Manhattan Beach City Council is committed to open government and transparency, and strives to comply, not only with the letter of the Brown Act, but with the spirit of the Act. The Ralph M. Brown Act (California Government Code Section 54950 et seq.), more commonly known as the "Brown Act," is California's "sunshine...
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