TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Mark Danaj, City Manager
FROM:
Quinn Barrow, City Attorney
SUBJECT:Title
City Council Policies regarding: (1) Description of Closed Sessions regarding Pending Litigation; (2) Consideration of Settlements in Open Sessions; and (3) Restriction on the Use of Technology During City Council Meetings (City Attorney Barrow.)
ADOPT POLICIES
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council review the policies and direct staff to incorporate the policies in the upcoming Sunshine Policy.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
There are no fiscal implications associated with this action.
BACKGROUND:
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 advisers 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. To that end, the City Council directed staff to draft policies to: (1) Provide the public with more information in the agenda description of closed sessions regarding pending litigation; (2) consider settlements in open sessions; and (3) restrict the use of technology during council meetings.
DISCUSSION:
The Ralph M. Brown Act (California Government Code Section 54950 et seq.), more commonly known as the "Brown Act," is California's "sunshine" law for local government. In a nutshell, the Brown Act requires local government business to be conducted at open and public meetings. Government Code Section 54950 declares that in enacting the Brown Act, "the Legislature finds and declares that the public commissions, boards and councils and the other public agencies in this State exist to aid...
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