BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 582
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 27, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Cameron Smyth, Chair
AB 582 (Pan) - As Amended: April 14, 2011
SUBJECT : Open meetings: local agencies.
SUMMARY : Requires the legislative body of a local agency to
publicly notice twice a proposed compensation increase of more
than 5% for a city manager, deputy city manager, county chief
administrative officer, deputy chief administrative officer, or
similar employee. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Requires the legislative body of a city; county; charter city;
charter county; town; school district; municipal corporation;
district; political subdivision; any board, commission or
agency thereof; or other local public agency (local agency)
when proposing a compensation increase of more than 5% for a
city manager, deputy city manager, county chief administrative
officer, deputy chief administrative officer, or similar
employee to publicly notice the proposed increase twice for
the following purposes and in the following manner:
a) First, for general notice and nonvoting and discussion
purposes; and,
b) Second, in the event of a vote on the matter, no less
than 12 days after the first notice
if the compensation increase is deemed necessary by the
legislative body of the local agency.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Requires, under the Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown Act), that 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)Requires, at least 72 hours before a regular meeting, the
legislative body of the local agency, or its designee, to post
an agenda containing a brief general description of each item
of business to be transacted or discussed at the meeting,
including items to be discussed in closed session.
AB 582
Page 2
3)Authorizes a legislative body of a local agency to hold closed
sessions with the local agency's designated representatives
regarding the salaries, salary schedules, or compensation paid
in the form of fringe benefits of its represented and
unrepresented employees, and, for represented employees, any
other matter within the statutorily provided scope of
representation.
4)Prohibits closed sessions from including final action on the
proposed compensation of one or more unrepresented employees.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
1)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 requires a
local agency to post an agenda for a regular meeting of its
legislative body at least 72 hours before the meeting in a
location that is freely accessible to members of the public.
The Brown Act applies to general law cities and counties as
well as charter cities and counties.
Unrepresented employee compensation is not an allowed closed
session topic. However, a particular employee's performance
evaluation can be considered in a closed session so long as
the closed session is appropriately noticed. In San Diego
Union v. City Council of San Diego (1983) 146 Cal.App.3d 947,
the court of appeal concluded:
"Salaries and other terms of compensation constitute municipal
budgetary matters of substantial public interest warranting
open discussion and eventual electoral public ratification.
Public visibility breeds public awareness which in turn
fosters public activism politically and subtly encouraging the
governmental entity to permit public participation in the
discussion process. It is difficult to imagine a more
critical time for public scrutiny of its governmental
decision-making process than when the latter is determining
how it shall spend public funds." (Id. At 955).
AB 582
Page 3
Following the requirements of the Brown Act, a vote on an
unrepresented employee's compensation would have to be
properly noticed at least 72 hours in advance of any
discussion or vote on the matter in open session.
2)According to the author, in the summer of 2010, the
Controller's audit of the City of Bell brought to light an
epidemic of misuse of public funds. The audit revealed
backroom payroll increases by the former chief administrative
officer, whose own pay multiplied to 11 times greater than his
starting salary. The city council authorized disproportionate
salary and benefit packages for other City of Bell officials.
The author says these backroom compensation issues do not
appear isolated to the City of Bell. By requiring two public
notices before compensation for designated senior employees
may be increased, the author says AB 582 promotes greater
transparency for taxpayers and makes local officials more
directly accountable for increasing executive officer
compensation.
3)AB 582 would require a compensation increase of more than 5%
for a city manager, deputy city manager, county chief
administrative officer, deputy chief administrative officer,
or similar employee to be publicly noticed twice with a vote
on the matter to not occur less than 12 days after the first
notice. Some legislative bodies meet infrequently and being
required to twice notice a discussion or vote on an executive
officer's compensation increase would mean, on a practical
level, that employment contract could not be approved for many
months. A local agency potentially could lose a valuable
employee to the private sector or a local agency that meets
more frequently because of the forced delay. The Committee
may wish to consider whether a requirement of having to
publicly notice a discussion or vote on a salary increase for
executive officers would place an undue burden on local
governments.
Also, AB 582 requires the legislative body, in the event of a
vote, to deem the executive officer's salary increase of more
than 5% as necessary. The term necessary is vague. The
Committee may wish to consider whether more specific language
would better serve the public and the legislative body in
implementing the author's intent to provide better
AB 582
Page 4
accountability and transparency to compensation decisions.
4)AB 1344 (Feuer, 2011), a similar measure, requires the
legislative body of a local agency to post at least 72 hours
in advance the agenda for a regular meeting on the local
agency's Internet Web site if the local agency has one.
5)Support arguments: Supporters, the State Controller, say
requiring two public notices for compensation increases of
certain employees promotes transparency and accountability for
the local government's constituents.
Opposition arguments: Opposition, Association of California
Water Agencies, says the requirement for a finding of
necessity for compensation increases is an impossible
standard, ripe for litigation.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
State Controller ÝSPONSOR]
Concerns
CA State Association of Counties
League of CA Cities
Regional Council of Rural Counties
Urban Counties Caucus
Opposition
Association of CA School Administrators
Association of CA Water Agencies (unless amended)
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer Klein Baldwin / L. GOV. /
(916) 319-3958