BILL ANALYSIS
AB 139
Page 1
Date of Hearing: January 13, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Anna Marie Caballero, Chair
AB 139 (Brownley) - As Amended: January 4, 2010
SUBJECT : Local government: county boards: meetings.
SUMMARY : Allows the County of Los Angeles board of supervisors
to hold one or more regular meetings at a location outside of
the county seat so long as the location is within the county.
EXISTING LAW requires all counties to hold regular meetings of
the board of supervisors at the county seat.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS :
1)The author states the County of Los Angeles (County) is the
largest county in the state with over 10 million residents.
The geography of the County ranges from coastline to the west,
desert in the north, mountains in the east, and an urbanized
south. On March 3, 2009, the board of supervisors voted 5-0
to research the feasibility of holding board meetings outside
of the county seat, which is the City of Los Angeles. The
motion was adopted in an attempt to encourage increased public
participation at board meetings and facilitate greater
oversight of proceedings. The motion specifically mentions
the desire to be able to hold budget meetings in other county
communities, which would result in some increased costs. The
motion also looked into the possibility of holding some
regular meetings in the evening, which also would result in
increased costs, principally for staff overtime.
2)Section 25081 of the Government Code was added to the
Political Code in 1907 as Section 4034 as part of the
establishment of a uniform system of county and township
governments. In 1947, Section 4034 of the Political Code was
reorganized into Section 20581 as part of a large revision to
the organization, operation, and maintenance of a system of
state and local government. The language of Section 25081 as
it reads today is identical, minus some grammatical
restructuring, to the language of Section 4034 as added in
1907. There are a few court cases citing Section 25081, but
AB 139
Page 2
these are merely citations and the cases do not challenge the
plain reading of the section. It goes without saying that
what may have worked for counties and the holding of regular
board of supervisors meetings in 1907 might not hold true for
board of supervisors in 2010. The board of supervisors for
the County holds its regular meetings in downtown Los Angeles
at 9:30 a.m. While close to the Metro public transportation
line, traffic congestion at the time meetings are held is
phenomenal, making it potentially difficult for the members of
the public to attend. The Committee may wish to consider
allowing all counties the opportunity to hold a regular
meeting of their boards of supervisors outside of the county
seat because other counties might face problems similar to the
County's.
3)As written, AB 139 exempts all regular meetings of the County
board of supervisors meetings that are not held at the county
seat from the Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown Act) (Chapter 9
(commencing with Section 54950) of Part 1 of Division 2 of
Title 5 of the Government Code). Thus, if AB 139 is signed
with the language it contains now, these alternative location
regular meetings would not have to comply with the timeline
for posting the agenda, restrictions on closed session, as
well as other protections and procedures provided for under
the Brown Act.
4)PROPOSED COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS : On page 2, strike out lines 3
to 8, inclusive, and insert:
By ordinance the board shall provide for the holding of regular
meetings of the board at the county seat. The board may change
the place for the holding of one or more regular meetings of
the board to a location within the county other than the
county seat only if all of the following occur:
(a) The change of location of the regular meeting is adopted by
ordinance, resolution, bylaws, or by whatever other rule is
required for the conduct of business by that body.
(b) Notice of the location change is posted no later than the
prior regular meeting of the board.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
AB 139
Page 3
Support
County of Los Angeles [SPONSOR]
Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer R. Klein / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958