WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.400 --> 00:00:05.164 Two state laws shape how every local body does its work in public. 2 00:00:05.164 --> 00:00:05.848 The Ralph M. 3 00:00:05.848 --> 00:00:07.388 Brown Act governs meetings. 4 00:00:07.388 --> 00:00:10.353 The California Public Records Act governs documents. 5 00:00:10.353 --> 00:00:15.885 Both changed recently, and both catch experienced officials who assume the old rules still apply. 6 00:00:15.885 --> 00:00:18.005 Start with what counts as a meeting. 7 00:00:18.005 --> 00:00:27.076 Under the Brown Act, a meeting is any gathering of a majority of a body to hear, discuss, deliberate, or take action on something within its jurisdiction. 8 00:00:27.076 --> 00:00:28.313 Notice the word hear. 9 00:00:28.313 --> 00:00:34.380 A majority sitting together at a developer's presentation can be a meeting, even if nobody says a word. 10 00:00:34.380 --> 00:00:36.618 The bigger trap is the serial meeting. 11 00:00:36.618 --> 00:00:44.040 A majority may not use a series of communications, directly or through intermediaries, to deliberate outside a public meeting. 12 00:00:44.040 --> 00:00:48.281 That covers a chain, where one member tells a second, who tells a third. 13 00:00:48.281 --> 00:00:53.170 It also covers a hub, where a staff member or a lobbyist polls each member in turn. 14 00:00:53.170 --> 00:00:58.647 Staff may brief members one at a time, but they may not tell you where your colleagues stand. 15 00:00:58.647 --> 00:01:05.068 If a manager ever says three of your colleagues are fine with this, the briefing has just become a violation. 16 00:01:05.068 --> 00:01:08.248 Social media has its own rule, made permanent in 2026. 17 00:01:08.248 --> 00:01:12.371 You may post, answer questions, and ask for input on public platforms. 18 00:01:12.371 --> 00:01:19.793 But you may not respond to a colleague's post about a matter in your jurisdiction, and responding includes a like or an emoji. 19 00:01:19.793 --> 00:01:26.363 Agendas must be posted seventy-two hours before a regular meeting and twenty-four hours before a special one. 20 00:01:26.363 --> 00:01:38.658 Items not on the agenda can be acted on only in an emergency, when a need arose after posting and two thirds of the body agree, or when an item was continued from a meeting no more than five days earlier. 21 00:01:38.658 --> 00:01:44.264 Otherwise you can respond briefly, ask a question, or ask staff to put it on a future agenda. 22 00:01:44.264 --> 00:01:55.294 Closed session is limited to a short list: real property negotiations, litigation, personnel matters, labor negotiations with a negotiator named in public first, and security threats. 23 00:01:55.294 --> 00:02:01.743 Final actions and votes are reported out afterward, and leaking what was said inside is itself a violation. 24 00:02:01.743 --> 00:02:04.435 Remote attendance now runs on several tracks. 25 00:02:04.435 --> 00:02:12.032 The traditional rule lets a member join from anywhere, as long as that location is listed on the agenda and open to the public. 26 00:02:12.032 --> 00:02:24.176 A newer just cause rule lets a member join from an unlisted location for reasons like childcare, illness, or official travel, as long as a quorum is together in person and the remote member is on camera. 27 00:02:24.176 --> 00:02:28.064 Those just cause appearances are capped at a few meetings a year. 28 00:02:28.064 --> 00:02:45.233 Beginning July first, 2026, councils in cities the size of Torrance carry new duties: two-way remote public comment, a plan for when the connection fails, a meetings web page, and translated agendas for any language spoken by twenty percent or more of residents who have limited English. 29 00:02:45.233 --> 00:02:46.149 Now the records. 30 00:02:46.149 --> 00:02:53.473 The agency has ten days to decide whether records can be released, with one extension of up to fourteen days for listed reasons. 31 00:02:53.473 --> 00:03:04.289 And here is the rule officials most often forget: under a 2017 California Supreme Court decision, messages about public business on your personal phone or personal email are public records. 32 00:03:04.289 --> 00:03:08.695 The city can ask you to search your own accounts and swear to what you found. 33 00:03:08.695 --> 00:03:11.270 Never delete a text thread with an applicant. 34 00:03:11.270 --> 00:03:15.734 For more, see the legal ground rules section of the Local Official's Handbook.