BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 23
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CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 23 (Smyth)
As Amended June 9, 2011
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: |72-0 |(May 5, 2011) |SENATE: |37-0 |(June 27, |
| | | | | |2011) |
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Original Committee Reference: L. GOV.
SUMMARY : Requires a member of a legislative body or the clerk to
announce, prior to holding a meeting simultaneously or in serial
order, during a meeting of a legislative body where the members of
the legislative body constitute at least a quorum of the legislative
body of the other meeting, how much compensation or stipend the
members will receive for the second meeting.
The Senate amendments clarify that the:
1)Announcement must be made regarding compensation not just at the
second meeting of the legislative body, but at any simultaneous or
serial order meeting of that subsequent legislative body.
2)Clerk or member of the legislative body shall not be required to
announce the amount of compensation if the amount of compensation
is prescribed in statute and no additional compensation has been
authorized by a local agency.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires, under the Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown Act), all meetings
of a legislative body of a local agency be open and public and all
persons be permitted to attend unless a closed session is
authorized.
2)Defines, for purposes of the Brown Act, local agency to mean a
county, city, whether general law or chartered, city and county,
town, school district, municipal corporation, district, political
subdivision, or any board, commission or agency thereof, or other
local public agency.
3)Defines, for purposes of the Brown Act, meeting to mean any
congregation of a majority
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of the members of a legislative body at the same time and location,
including teleconference, to hear, discuss, deliberate, or take
action on any item that is within the subject matter jurisdiction
of the legislative body.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY , this bill:
1)Required a member of a legislative body or the clerk to announce,
prior to holding a meeting simultaneously or in serial order,
during a meeting of a legislative body where the members of the
legislative body constitute at least a quorum of the legislative
body of the other meeting, how much compensation or stipend the
members will receive for the second meeting.
2)Exempted from these provisions compensation for a community
development commission, a redevelopment agency, and a
redevelopment agency and housing authority.
3)Excluded from the definition of compensation and stipend actual
and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of official
duties, including reimbursement of expenses related to travel,
meals, and lodging.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : The Brown Act requires the meetings of local governments'
legislative bodies to be "open and public," thereby ensuring
people's access to information so they may retain control over the
public agencies that serve them. The Brown Act also requires
legislative bodies to establish the time and place of regular
meetings by adopting an ordinance, resolution, bylaw, or rule.
Frequently, the legislative body of a city or county also serves as
the legislative body for other municipal legislative bodies, such as
the Board of Trustees for the library and the planning commission.
In the case of the City of Bell, the members of the city council
collected additional compensation for serving on the Surplus
Property Authority and Public Financing Authority, receiving a
stipend as high as $18,895.80 a year for serving on just one of
these commissions. So while the base salary for each City of Bell
city councilmember was $1,800 a year, by serving on multiple city
commissions and boards, these city councilmembers' salaries jumped
to nearly $100,000 a year.
Also, the City of Bell councilmembers frequently would hold the
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meetings for these other boards and commissions simultaneously as
city council meetings. Other times the other commission and board
meetings would be convened for just one minute, but the city
councilmembers would collect the full amount of their pay for that
meeting. For instance, meetings for four City of Bell commissions
and boards were held simultaneously for a total of one minute on
July 31, 2006, netting those councilmembers a full stipend for all
four commissions and boards.
According to the author, the Brown Act is silent on simultaneous
meetings and does not prescribe any requirements about holding
simultaneous or serial meetings when a stipend or compensation is
being paid. The author says, by requiring a clerk or member of the
convened legislative body to announce before the start of a second
meeting the compensation each member would receive would put the
public on notice.
This bill exempts from the disclosure requirements for simultaneous
or serial meetings the convening of a meeting for any legislative
body whose compensation is set by statute and, thus, controlled by
the Legislature.
Support arguments: Supporters might argue requiring compensation
and stipends to be publicly announced before convening a serial or
simultaneous meeting increases accountability and transparency.
Opposition arguments: Opposition might argue there should be no
exceptions when it comes to announcing the compensation or stipend
to be received at serial or simultaneous meetings because the public
should be informed of all forms of compensation.
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Klein Baldwin / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958
FN: 0001248