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Los Angeles City Attorney Video on the Brown Act

Davis Stirling Training - using Los Angeles City Attorney's Brown Act Training Video.

James Chadwick Video on the Brown Act

Ralph M. Brown Act: Explanatory Q&ANature, Purpose and Scope of the Law

Civil Code §1363.05* provides that

(j) As used in this section, "meeting" includes any congregation of a majority of the members of the board at the same time and place to hear, discuss, or deliberate upon any item of business scheduled to be heard by the board,...

Sacramento Newspaper Guild v. Sacramento County Bd. of Suprs. (1968) 263 Cal.App.2d 41,
The court held that a luncheon gathering which included five county supervisors, the county counsel, a variety of county officers, and representatives of a union to discuss a strike which was under way against the county was a meeting within the meaning of the (Brown) Act.

Civil Code 1363.05 provides that
(l) (1)... the board of directors of the association may not discuss or take action on any item ... unless the item was placed on the agenda included in the notice that was posted and distributed

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), a member of the board of directors...may do any of the following: (A) Briefly respond to statements made or questions posed by a person speaking at a meeting...(B) Ask a question for clarification, make a brief announcement, or make a brief report on his or her own activities...

Agenda must give enough details so the public understands what is actually going to happen - Carlson v Paradise School District

Civil Code §1363.05 provides that
(h) The board of directors of the association shall permit any member of the association to speak at any meeting of the association or the board of directors

More on "Open Forum"

This is in addition to the right to comment on Agenda Items

PUBLIC TESTIMONY:
Public may comment on agenda items before or during consideration by legislative body. Time must be set aside for public to comment on any other matters under the body’s jurisdiction.
54954.3 Ch. IV & V

Civil Code §1365.2 provides that

(b) (1) (2)... if the requesting member submits a written request directly to the association for copies of specifically identified records, ...copies of the specifically identified records to the member by first-class mail within the time frames set forth in subdivision (j). (h) provides that Requesting parties shall have the option of receiving specifically identified records by electronic transmission or machine-readable storage media.

More on Right to Record Meetings

Records; Public Comment; Recordings

Civil Code §1363.05 provides that
(f)...members shall be given notice of the time and place of a meeting as defined in subdivision (j) id , ...at least four days prior to the meeting...

Agenda containing brief general description (approximately twenty words in length) of each matter to be considered or discussed must be posted at least 72 hours prior to meeting. 54954.2

Meeting Notices and Agendas

the agenda item, though not deceitful, was entirely misleading and inadequate to show the whole scope of the board's intended plans.

It would have taken relatively little effort to add to the agenda that this "school site change" also included the discontinuance of elementary education at Canyon View
Carlson v. Paradise Unified Sch. Dist. , 18 Cal.App.3d 196

FAQ www.CFAC.org

Meeting Notice & Agenda FAQ's

Civil Code 1365.2  §1363.09 provides

f) ...the court shall award the member reasonable costs and expenses, including reasonable attorney's fees, and may assess a civil penalty of up to five hundred dollars ($500) for the denial of each separate written request.

Civil Code §1363.001 provides that

...the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Department of Real Estate shall develop an on-line education course for the board of directors of an association regarding the role, duties, laws, and responsibilities of board members and prospective board members, and the nonjudicial foreclosure process.
 

Civil Code §1363.05 (b) provides that

executive session to consider litigation,...contracts with third parties, member discipline, personnel matters, or to meet with a member, upon the member's request, regarding the member's payment of assessments,...if requested by a member who may be subject to a fine, penalty, or other form of discipline...

General Rules affecting Closed Sessions

Rules for Particular Closed Sessions:

Pending Litigation

Employee Negotiations

“formation of contracts,” is defined as

The requisites for formation of a legal contract are an offer, an acceptance, competent parties who have the legal capacity to contract, lawful subject matter, mutuality of agreement, consideration, mutuality of obligation, and, if required under the Statute of Frauds, a writing http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Contracts  Last Accessed 5/27/2009

Civil Code 1550 (1) (2) Provides that

It is essential to the existence of a contract that there should be:

1. Parties capable of contracting;

2. Their consent;

3. A lawful object; and,

4. A sufficient cause or consideration.

Civil Code §1363.05 ( c ) provides that

Any matter discussed in executive session shall be generally noted in the minutes of the immediately following meeting that is open to the entire membership.
 meetings were not noticed so as to allow Open Forum prior to the Board’s secret deliberations. Civil Code 1363.05 provides that

(b) Any member of the association may attend meetings of the board of directors of the association, except when the board adjourns to executive session


Adjourn - 1 : to suspend a session ... to another time or place http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adjourn 

All items to be considered in closed session must be described in the notice or agenda for the meeting. A model format for closed-session agendas appears in section 54954.5. Prior to each closed session, the body must orally announce the subject matter of the closed session.

Civil Code §1365.5 provides that

(a) ... the board of directors of the association shall do all of the following:

(1) Review a current reconciliation of the association's operating accounts on at least a quarterly basis.

(2) Review a current reconciliation of the association's reserve accounts on at least a quarterly basis.

(3) Review, on at least a quarterly basis, the current year's actual reserve revenues and expenses compared to the current year's budget.

(4) Review the latest account statements prepared by the financial institutions where the association has its operating and reserve accounts.

(5) Review an income and expense statement for the association's operating and reserve accounts on at least a quarterly basis.

Under Corp. Code 7231(a) "A director shall perform the duties of a director . . ."

Under the Davis-Stirling Act, he has a further duty to monitor the association's finances (Civ. Code 1365.5).

His failure to attend meetings means he is missing the treasurer's report, not reviewing financial records, and not asking questions about finances--a further breach of his fiduciary duties.

A person who consents to being a director and then refuses to participate loses the protections of Civil Code 1365.7(a). As such, he may face personal liability if something happens. www.DavisStirling.com

(a) A pro forma operating budget, which shall include all of the following:

(1) The estimated revenue and expenses on an accrual basis.

(2) A summary of the association's reserves based upon the most recent review or study conducted pursuant to Section 1365.5, based only on assets held in cash or cash equivalents, which shall be printed in boldface type and include all of the following:...

At least once every three years, the board of directors shall cause to be conducted a reasonably competent...study of the reserve account requirements of the common interest development, ...The board shall review this study, or cause it to be reviewed, annually and shall consider and implement necessary adjustments to the board's analysis of the reserve account requirements as a result of that review
 

(f) (1) A summary of the association's property, general liability, earthquake, flood, and fidelity insurance policies,...shall be distributed...

 Civil Code §1365.7
(a) A volunteer officer or volunteer director ...shall not be personally liable ...if all of the following criteria are met:

(1) The act or omission was performed within the scope of the officer's or director's association duties.

(2) The act or omission was performed in good faith.

(3) The act or omission was not willful, wanton, or grossly negligent.

Civil Code §1366. (b) provides that

...the board of directors may not impose a regular assessment that is more than 20 percent greater than the regular assessment for the association's preceding fiscal year or impose special assessments which in the aggregate exceed 5 percent of the budgeted gross expenses of the association for that fiscal year without the approval of owners, constituting a quorum, casting a majority of the votes at a meeting or election of the association ...

Corp. Code 7210 provides that

...Each corporation shall have a board of directors. ...the activities and affairs of a corporation shall be conducted and all corporate powers shall be exercised by or under the direction of the board. ...all corporate powers shall be exercised under the ultimate direction of the board.

ELECTIONS
 

 California Civil Code §1363.03(c) provides that

(1) The association shall select an independent third party or parties as an inspector of election. The number of inspectors of election shall be one or three.

Election rules may not be discussed in executive session Civil Code §1363.05 id
 

Civil Code §1357.130 provides that

A decision a proposed rule change shall be made at a meeting of the board of directors, after consideration of any comments made by association members

special meeting to veto the rules Civil Code §1357.140 (a) provides that

Members of an association owning 5 percent or more of the separate interests may call a special meeting of the members to reverse a rule change

 a candidate for office, handled the ballots. determined that write in candidates are not recognized, Civil Code §1363.03 provides

(c) (3) The inspector or inspectors of election shall do all of the following: (C) Receive ballots. (D) Hear and determine all challenges and questions in any way arising out of or in connection with the right to vote.

 

Civil Code §1363.09(a) provides that

A member of an association may bring a civil action for declaratory or equitable relief for a violation of this article ... including, but not limited to, injunctive relief, restitution, ...a court may void any results of the election (b) ... attorney's fees and court costs, and the court may impose a civil penalty of up to five hundred dollars ($500) for each violation
 

 meet and confer to resolve the various problems. California Civil Code Section 1363.810 et seq 1363.830provides that

A fair, reasonable, and expeditious dispute resolution procedure shall at a minimum satisfy all of the following requirements:

( c ) If the procedure is invoked by a member, the association shall participate in the procedure.

* While we have numerous links to Davis Stirling.com as we consider them the best and most authoritative site on the Davis Stirling Act, judging from what we have seen of the quality of their work, we would NOT recommend that you use their services.

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Sample Test