The California Attorney General issued an opinion on three questions related to the Brown Act. The Brown Act applies to District meetings of the Board of Trustees, certain subcommittees meetings, and senate meetings.
The Ventura Chamber of Commerce hosted an annual breakfast at which the mayor, who is a city council member, delivered a “State of the City” address. Members of the public could attend the event, but they would have to purchase a ticket. There was no other way for the public to watch the address in real time. The Ventura County District Attorney submitted the following three questions to the Attorney General regarding how the Brown Act applied to this event:
- If a majority of the members of the city council were to attend the event described above, would that event constitute a “meeting” of the city council within the scope of the Brown Act under Government Code section 54952.2(a)?
- Would the Brown Act exception for conferences or similar gatherings set forth in Government Code section 54952.2(c)(2) apply to such an event?
- Would the Brown Act’s exception for “community meetings” set forth in Government Code section 54952.2(c)(3) apply to such an event?
The Attorney General provided the following answers:
- If a majority of the members of the city council were to attend the event described above, that event would constitute a congregation of a majority of the councilmembers at the same time and location to hear—and potentially discuss—an item within their subject matter jurisdiction. As such, the event would constitute a “meeting” of the city council within the meaning of Government Code section 54952.2(a), and the meeting would have to comply with the open-meeting requirements of the Brown Act, unless a statutory exception applies.
- The event as described consisted of a single speech by a single official regarding the state of a single city. As such, it would not satisfy the Brown Act exception for conferences and similar gatherings set forth in Government Code section 54952.2(c)(2) because that exception involves a discussion of issues of general interest to the public or to public agencies of the type represented by the city council.
- The Brown Act exception for community meetings set forth in Government Code section 54952.2(c)(3) requires, among other things, that the event must be open to the public. The event in question would not satisfy that element because members of the public could only attend by purchasing a ticket from the chamber of commerce.
The full published opinion can be found here.
