BILL ANALYSIS
AB 139
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 139 (Brownley)
As Amended January 14, 2010
Majority vote
LOCAL GOVERNMENT 5-0
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|Ayes:|Caballero, Knight, | | |
| |Arambula, Davis, Skinner | | |
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SUMMARY : Allows county boards 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. Specifically,
this bill :
1)Allows county boards 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.
2)Requires the change of location of the regular meeting be
adopted by ordinance, resolution, bylaws, or by whatever other
rule is required for the conduct of business by that body.
3)Requires notice of the location change be posted no later than
the prior regular meeting of the board.
EXISTING LAW requires all counties to hold regular meetings of
the board of supervisors at the county seat.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : 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
AB 139
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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.
Government Code Section 25081 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, Political
Code Section 4034 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 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. Other counties might face
similar problems as well. This bill gives flexibility to
counties to hold some regular meetings at a more convenient
location for their residents, thereby giving more opportunity
for public participation.
Analysis Prepared by : Jennifer R. Klein / L. GOV. / (916)
319-3958
FN: 0003553