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Receipt and Filing of the Report Regarding the Disability Advisory Committee Bylaws and a Summary of The Brown Act.
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Meeting Date: August 9, 2023
Contact Person/Dept: Dani Cullens/PRCS
Phone Number: (310) 253-6471
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [X] General Fund: Yes [] No []
Attachments: Yes [X] No []
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [X] Date:
Public Notification: (E-Mail) Meetings and Agendas - Disabilities Awareness Committee (08/04/2023); (E-Mail) Parks, Recreation & Community Services Department Updates (08/04/2023)
Department Approval: Dani Cullens, RCS Manager (08/04/2023)
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RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Disability Advisory Committee receive and file the report regarding the Disability Advisory Committee Bylaws and a Summary of The Brown Act
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION
Staff has prepared this report in order to present the Disability Advisory Committee (DAC) Bylaws (Attachment 1), a Summary of The Brown Act (Attachment 2), and Robert’s Rules of Order (Attachment 3) to the new (DAC) Members with the opportunity for discussion.
Bylaws
At the April 12, 2017, City Council meeting, the City Council approved and adopted Resolution Number 2017-R040, which created the Disability Advisory Committee and established its Bylaws. The Bylaws are outlined using the following sections:
1. The Purpose of the Committee
2. The Organization
3. The Duties
4. The Officers
5. The Meetings
6. Staff Support
7. Amendment to the Bylaws
The Bylaws define the terms of office, the designation of officers, and the duties of the officers. It also establishes the following types of meetings and assigns the meetings specific times in the year:
1. Regular Meetings
2. Special Meetings
The Bylaws outline the importance of the Committee acting in accordance with the provisions of the Ralph M. Brown Act outline in Attachment 2 (commencing with California Government Code Section 54950).
The next section of the Bylaws explains the specific types of support that the Committee can expect from the Parks, Recreation and Community Services staff.
The Brown Act
The Brown Act applies to all legislative bodies of local government agencies. It does not apply to ad hoc subcommittees. The central purpose of the Brown Act is that all meetings are open and available to the public. In order to achieve this, there are certain qualifications that must happen for each meeting, whether it is a regular meeting or a special meeting. These qualifications include posting a notice of a meeting, allowing public address, and conducting only public voting.
Under the Brown Act, it is prohibited for a majority of the members of a legislative body, also called a quorum, to discuss outside of official meetings any topic related to their respective legislative body. This also includes serial meetings, which can occur when one person talks to a second person who talks to a third person. A quorum can also occur via email, so it is important to only email the committee secretary and not the members of the committee.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
There is no fiscal impact associated with this discussion.
ATTACHMENTS
1. 2023-08-09- ATT 1 Disability Advisory Committee Bylaws
2. 2023-08-09- ATT 2 The Brown Act
MOTIONS:
That the Disability Advisory Committee:
Receive and file the report regarding the Disability Advisory Committee Bylaws and the Summary of The Brown Act.