Brown Act Compliance
Compliance with Brown Act re Board Meetings
Scott Valley Fire Protection District
POLICY TITLE: Board Meetings
POLICY NUMBER: 5010
5010.10 (revised 7/8/98) Regular meetings of the Board of Commissioners shall be held on the second Thursday of each calendar month at the posted time in the Greenview Fire Station, 317 Maple Street, Greenview, CA 96037. The date, time and place of regular Board meetings shall be reconsidered annually at the annual organizational meeting of the Board.
5010.20 SPECIAL MEETINGS (non-emergency) of the Board of Commissioners may be called by the Board Chairperson.
5010.21 All Commissioners shall be notified of a special meeting and the purpose or purposes for which it is called. Said notification shall be in writing, delivered to them at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the meeting.
5010.22 Those who have requested notice of special meetings in accordance with the Ralph M. Brown Act (California Government Code §54950 through §54926) shall be notified by Electronic mail or postal mail or by telephone during business hours as soon after the meeting is scheduled as is practicable.
5010.23 An agenda shall be prepared as specified in Policy # 5020 for regular Board meetings and shall be delivered with the notice of the special meeting to those specified above.
5010.24 Only those items of business listed in the call for the special meeting shall be considered by the Board at any special meeting.
5010.30 SPECIAL MEETINGS (emergency). In the event of an emergency situation involving matters upon which prompt action is necessary due to the disruption or threatened disruption of public facilities, the Board of Commissioners may hold an emergency special meeting without complying with the twenty-four (24) hour notice required in 5010.21, above. An emergency situation means a crippling disaster which severely impairs public health, safety, or both, as determined by the Board Chairperson or Vice Chairperson in the Chairperson's absence.
5010.31 Newspapers of general circulation in the District, radio stations and television stations which have requested notice of special meetings in accordance with the Ralph M. Brown Act (California Government Code §54950 through §54926) shall be notified by at least one (1) hour prior to the emergency special meeting. In the event that telephone services are not functioning, the notice requirement of one hour is waived, but the Chairperson, or his/her designed representative, shall notify such newspapers, radio stations, or television stations of the fact of the holding of the emergency special meeting, and of any action taken by the Board as soon after the meeting as possible.
5010.32 No closed session may be held during an emergency special meeting, and all other rules governing special meetings shall be observed with the exception of the twenty-four (24) hour notice. The minutes of the emergency special meeting, a list of persons the Chairperson or designed representative notified or attempted to notify, a copy of the roll call vote(s), and any actions taken at such meeting shall be posted for a minimum of ten (10) days in the District office as soon after the meeting as possible.
5010.40 CLOSED SESSIONS: Under certain narrowly defined circumstances a legislative body may, as part of a regular meeting or special meeting (not an emergency meeting) go into closed session. A brief, general description of the basis for the closed session must be included on the agenda.
5010.41 Instances where a closed session is justified:
5010.410 REAL PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS: Closed session is permitted so legislative body can instruct persons who are negotiating on the agency's behalf in a real property transaction.
5010.411 INSTRUCTIONS TO NEGOTIATOR RE: MEET AND CONFER: A legislative body may review its position and give instruction to its negotiators regarding salaries, fringe benefits and other mandatory subjects of bargaining of its represented and unrepresented employees.
5010.412 PENDING LITIGATION; the legislative body, upon advice of its attorney, may conduct a closed session to discuss pending litigation (see Brown Act for more detail).
5010.413 PERSONNEL EXCEPTION: The legislative body may meet to consider the appointment, employment, evaluation of performance, or dismissal of a public employee. Employees covered by this exception include high level appointed officials, but do not include elected officials or consultants and independent contractors. Matters must relate to specific individuals. Broad-based reviews of the salary structure or classification of groups of employees should be held in open session.
5010.414 (section deleted 7/8/98)
5010.50 ADJOURNED MEETINGS A majority vote by the Board of Commissioners may terminate any Board meeting at any place in the agenda to any time and place specified in the order of adjournment and he/she shall cause a written notice of adjournment to be given to those specified in 5010.22 above.
5010.60 ANNUAL ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING The Board of Commissioners shall hold an annual organizational meeting at its regular meeting in January. At this meeting the Board will elect a Chairperson and a Vice Chairperson from among its members to serve during the coming calendar year.
5010.70 The Chairperson of the meetings described herein shall determine the order in which agenda items shall be considered for discussion and/or action by the Board.
5010.80 The Chairperson and the Administrative Officer shall insure that appropriate information is available for the audience at meetings of the Board of Commissioners, and that physical facilities for said meetings are functional and appropriate.
POLICY TITLE: Board Meeting Agenda
POLICY NUMBER: 5020
5020.10 The Administrative Officer, in cooperation with the Board Chairperson, shall prepare an agenda for each regular and special meeting of the Board of Commissioners. Any Commissioner may call the Administrative Officer and request any item to be placed on the agenda no later than 5:00 o'clock P.M. seven days prior to the scheduled meeting.
5020.20 Any member of the public may request that a matter directly related to District business be placed on the agenda of a regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Commissioners, subject to the following conditions
5020.21 The Board of Commissioners may place limitations on the total time to be devoted to a public request issue at any meeting, and limit to five (5) minutes the time allowed for any one person to speak on that issue at the meeting.
5020.30 This policy does not prevent the Board from taking testimony at regular and special meetings on matters which are not on the agenda which a member of the public may wish to bring before the Board. However, the Board shall not discuss or take action on such matters at that meeting.
5020.40 At least seventy-two (72) hours prior to the time of all regular meetings, an agenda, which includes, but is not limited to, all matters on which there may be discussion and/or action by the Board, shall be posted conspicuously for public review in three (3) places in Scott Valley.
5020.41 The agenda for a special meeting shall be posted at least seventy-two (72) hours before the meeting and on the SVFPD website.
POLICY TITLE: Board Meeting Conduct
POLICY NUMBER: 5030
5030.10 The Chairperson shall conduct meetings of the Board of Commissioners in a manner consistent with the policies of the District. The latest edition of The California Open Meeting Law for local Agencies (Ralph M. Brown Act--commonly known as the Brown Act) shall also be used as a general guideline for meeting protocol. District policies shall prevail whenever they are not in conflict with The Brown Act.
5030.20 All Board meetings shall commence at the time stated on the agenda and shall be guided by same.
5030.30 The conduct of meetings shall, to the fullest possible extent, enable Commissioners to:5030.31 Consider problems to be solved, weigh evidence related thereto, and make wise decisions intended to solve the problems; and,
5030.32 Receive, consider and take any needed action with respect to reports of accomplishment of District operations.
5030.40 Provisions for permitting any individual or group to address the Board concerning any item on the agenda of a special meeting, or to address the Board at a regular meeting on any subject that lies within the jurisdiction of the Board of Commissioners, shall be as followed:
5030.41 Five (5) minutes may be allotted to each speaker and a maximum of twenty (20) minutes to each subject matter;
5030.42 (Deleted 7/11/13)
5030.43 No oral presentation shall include charges or complaints against any District employee and or member, regardless of whether or not the employee or member is identified in the presentation by name or by another reference which tends to identify. All charges or complaints against employees and or members shall be submitted to the Board of Commissioners under provisions contained in Policy #1030.
5030.50 Willful disruption of any of the meetings of the Board of Commissioners shall not be permitted. If the Chairperson finds that there is in fact willful disruption of any meeting of the Board, he/she may order the room cleared and subsequently conduct the Board's business without the audience present.
5030.51 In such an event, only matters appearing on the agenda may be considered in such a session.
5030.52 After clearing the room, the Chairperson may permit those persons who, in his/her opinion, were not responsible for the willful disruption to re-enter the meeting room.
5030.53 Duly accredited representatives of the news media, whom the Chairperson finds not to have participated in the disruption, shall be admitted to the remainder of the meeting.