Irvine Municipal Code Div. 15 Public Meetings and Public Records

Footnotes:

--- (8) ---

Editor's note— Ord. No. 22-02, § 2, adopted April 12, 2022, repealed the former Div. 15, §§ 1-15-101—1-15-111, and enacted a new Div. 15 as set out herein. The former Div. 15 pertained to similar subject matter and derived from Ord. No. 18-10, § 2, 11-13-18.

The Irvine City Council finds and declares:

A. The City has a duty to serve the public and to accommodate those who wish to obtain information about or participate in the decision-making process. The City, the City Council, City Commissions and City Committees exist to conduct the people's business.

B. The City Council, in prescribing the provisions of this division, hereby states its recognition of the enormous value of direct, active participation by citizens in their government, and of the primary importance of guaranteeing public access to and participation in the operation and development of the community.

C. The provisions of this division shall be interpreted to further the intent of the City Council to assure that the City's deliberations and operations are open to the public. This division is intended to clarify and supplement the Irvine City Charter, the Ralph M. Brown Act, and the California Public Records Act to assure that the people of the City of Irvine can be fully informed and thereby retain control over the instruments of local government in their City.

(Ord. No. 22-02, § 2, 4-12-22)

Words or phrases in this division shall be defined pursuant to the Ralph M. Brown Act, Government Code § 54950 et seq. and the Public Records Act, Government Section 6250 et seq. unless otherwise specified as follows:

Agenda means the agenda of a local body which has scheduled a meeting. The agenda shall meet the requirements of Government Code § 54954.2. For closed sessions, the agenda shall meet the requirements set forth in Government Code § 54954.5. The agenda shall contain a brief, general description of each item of business to be transacted or discussed during the meeting and shall avoid the use of abbreviations or acronyms not in common usage and terms whose meaning is not known to the general public. The agenda may refer to explanatory documents, including but not limited to, correspondence or reports, in the agenda related material. A description of an item on the agenda is adequate if it is sufficiently clear and specific to alert a person of average intelligence and education whose interests are affected by the item that he or she may have reason to attend the meeting or seek more information on the item.

Agenda related materials means the agenda, all reports, correspondence and any other document prepared and forwarded by staff to any local body, and other documents forwarded to the local body, which provide background information or recommendations concerning the subject matter of any agenda item.

Local body means the Irvine City Council, and every commission and committee of the City of Irvine that is otherwise subject to the Ralph M. Brown Act, Government Code § 54950 et seq. "Local body" shall not mean any congregation or gathering which consists solely of employees of the City of Irvine.

Meeting shall have the meaning set forth in Government Code § 54952.2(b)(1).

Notice means the posting of an agenda in a location that is freely accessible to the public 24 hours a day and as additionally specified in Section 1-15107 and Section 1-15-108.

On line means accessible by computer without charge to the user.

Software or hardware impairment means a circumstance where the City is unable to utilize computer software, hardware and/or network services to produce agendas, agenda related material or to post agendas on-line due to inoperability of software or hardware caused by the introduction of a malicious program (including but not limited to a computer virus), electrical outage affecting the City's computer network, or unanticipated system or equipment failure. "Software or hardware impairment" may also include situations when the City is unable to access the internet due to required or necessary maintenance or the installation of system upgrades that necessitates de-activating the system network; however, the City shall make reasonable efforts to avoid a delay in the preparation, distribution, or posting of agendas and agenda related material as a result of required or necessary maintenance or installation of system upgrades.

(Ord. No. 22-02, § 2, 4-12-22)

All meetings of local bodies specified in Section 1-15-103 shall be open and public, to the same extent as if that body were governed by the provisions of the Ralph M. Brown Act (Government Code § 54950 et seq.) unless greater public access is required by this division, in which case this division shall be applicable.

(Ord. No. 22-02, § 2, 4-12-22)

A. Every local body, or the authority creating each local body, shall establish by formal action the time and place for holding regular meetings and shall conduct such regular meetings in accordance with such formal action.

B. Except as otherwise authorized by the Ralph M. Brown Act (Government Code § 54950 et seq.), regular and special meetings of local bodies shall be held within the City of Irvine.

C. If, because of fire, flood, earthquake, or other emergency, it would be unsafe to meet in the customary location, the meetings may be held for the duration of the emergency at some other place specified by the City Manager or his or her designee. The change of meeting site shall be announced, by the most rapid means of communication available at the time, in a notice to media organizations who have requested written notice of meetings.

(Ord. No. 22-02, § 2, 4-12-22)

A. Seven-day advance notice requirement. Local bodies shall provide notice no later than seven days before the date of each of their respective regular meetings by:

1. Posting a copy or image of the agenda in no fewer than four locations freely accessible to the public 24 hours per day;

2. Making a copy or image of the agenda available in the City Clerk's office and at the Irvine Police Department during regular business hours; and

3. Posting a copy or image of the agenda on-line on the City's website; provided, however, the failure to timely post a copy or image of the agenda online because of software or hardware impairment shall not constitute a defect in the notice for a regular meeting, if the local body complies with all other posting and noticing requirements.

B. Agenda Modifications Prior to Brown Act Deadline. Notwithstanding the notice provisions of Section 1-15-107(A), agendas for the local bodies may be amended or supplemented up to 72 hours before a regular meeting to add an item that requires or would materially benefit from action prior to the next regularly-scheduled meeting of the local body, to add an item at the request of the Mayor or members of the City Council in a manner consistent with an adopted City Council policy and/or procedure, to continue an agendized item to a future regular meeting of the local body, or to remove any item from a posted agenda.

C. Action on items not appearing on the agenda. Except as otherwise provided in Government Code § 54954.2, no action shall be taken on matters not appearing on the posted agenda.

D. Future meeting. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the local body from taking action to schedule items for a future meeting to which regular or special meeting notice requirements will apply.

E. Conforming documents and errata. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the City Attorney from conforming a document to comply with technical requirements as to form and legality, nor shall this section prohibit the distribution of an errata prepared by City staff to make corrections or clarifications to, or to provide supplemental information for, published agenda materials.

F. Submittal of additional documents. The City Manager, City Attorney, City Clerk and their designees, in their capacities with the City, shall diligently attempt to submit public agenda related materials to the City Clerk or other responsible department in sufficient time to meet the deadlines of this section and Section 1-15-108. However, the referenced officers may submit additional documents to the local body, and that body may accept the documents if such information are relevant to the local body's decision making process. Documents submitted by outside parties may be distributed to and accepted by the local body at any time prior to or during the subject meeting. Documents submitted by outside parties prior to the meeting shall be made available to the public at the subject meeting. Documents submitted by outside parties at the meeting shall be made available to the public the following business day. Nothing in this section or in any other provision of this division shall be interpreted to require that the City Manager, City Attorney or City Clerk submit to the City Clerk any documents that are not public records.

(Ord. No. 22-02, § 2, 4-12-22)

A. Special meetings of the local body may be called at any time by the presiding officer thereof or by a majority of the members thereof in accordance with the Ralph M. Brown Act (Government Code § 54950 et seq.).

(Ord. No. 22-02, § 2, 4-12-22)

A. The Rules of Order of the City Council, as provided in Chapter 3 of Division 2 of this title, and the City Council Policies and Procedures for agendas and meetings, any amendments thereto, shall govern all proceedings of local bodies and are hereby incorporated into this division; provided, however, that references to the "Mayor" shall refer to the presiding officer of each local body, and references to "City Council" and/or "Council" shall refer to the local body.

B. No local body shall abridge or prohibit public criticism of the policies, procedures, programs or services of the local body or agency, or of any other aspect of its proposals or activities, or of the acts or omissions of the local body, even if the criticism implicates the performance of one or more public employees. Nothing in this subsection shall change the operation of law in the area of defamation.

(Ord. No. 22-02, § 2, 4-12-22)

A. The City Council shall make a visual and audio recording of every open meeting. All other local bodies shall make an audio recording of every open meeting. Any recording of any open meeting shall be a public record subject to inspection and copying and shall not be erased, deleted or destroyed for at least five years, provided that if during that five-year period a written request for inspection or copying of any recording is made, the recording shall not be erased, deleted or destroyed until the requested inspection or copying has been accomplished. A copy of any such recording shall be provided, free of charge, upon request.

B. All local bodies shall record the minutes for each regular and special meeting convened under the provisions of this division. The minutes of the City Council shall be kept by the clerk of the local body with a record of each particular type of business transacted set off in paragraphs, with proper subheadings; provided that the clerk of the local body shall be required to make a record only of such business as was actually passed by a vote of the local body, and shall not be required to record any remarks of a member of the local body, or of any other person, except at the special request of a member of the local body (per Section 1-2-311(E)); provided, further, that a record shall be made of the names of persons addressing the local body, the title of the subject matter to which the remarks related, and whether they spoke in support of or in opposition to such matter.

(Ord. No. 22-02, § 2, 4-12-22)

A. The City Manager shall administer and coordinate the implementation of the provisions of this division for all local bodies, agencies and departments under his or her authority, responsibility or control.

B. The City Clerk or other responsible department shall timely post all agendas and shall make available for immediate public inspection and copying all agendas and agenda-related material filed with it.

(Ord. No. 22-02, § 2, 4-12-22)

In the event of any inconsistency between this Division and any bylaws or procedures of any City Commission or committee, this Division shall control.

(Ord. No. 22-02, § 2, 4-12-22)