Freedom Newspapers, Inc. v. Orange County Employees Retirement System Board of Directors

The Ralph M. Brown Act (Stats. 1953, ch. 1588, § 1, p. 3269, codified as Gov. Code, § 54950 et seq. [hereafter the Brown Act or the Act]) [1] provides that all meetings of "the legislative body of a local agency shall be open and public," except as otherwise provided in the Act. (§ 54953.) At all times relevant to this case the Act contained four separate definitions of "legislative body." [2] We granted review to determine whether the Operations Committee of the Retirement Board of Orange County Employees Retirement System (hereafter Board) is a "legislative body" within the meaning of the Brown Act and, therefore, subject to the Act's open meeting requirements. Because the Operations Committee is an advisory committee composed solely of Board members numbering less than a quorum of the Board, we hold that the committee is not a "legislative body" pursuant to the provisions of section 54952.3 and is thereby excluded from the open meeting requirements of the Act.

The Orange County Employees Retirement System is governed by a nine-member Board. Five members of the Board constitute a quorum. The Board is a "local agency" and a "legislative body" under sections…

Although I have no quarrel with the result reached by the majority, I find that virtually all their reasoning has been rendered moot by the enactment of the 1993 legislation quoted in footnote 11 of the majority opinion. (Stats. 1993, ch. 1138.)

That legislation answers the question we took this case to resolve, i.e., whether advisory committees composed solely of members of a legislative body are themselves “legislative bodies” for purposes of the Ralph M. Brown Act. (Gov. Code, § 54950 et seq.) The 1993 legislation plainly declares they are not, unless they qualify as “standing committees” therein defined.

In light of this development the majority opinion has become an anachronism; indeed, the 1993 legislation repeals the very statute discussed by the majority at length. (Gov. Code, § 54952.3.) Because it is not our responsibility to offer advisory opinions on repealed statutes, I would dismiss review in this case as improvidently granted.

I dissent.

California’s Open Meeting Law 1 requires legislative bodies to give notice of the time and place of their meetings and to make such meetings open and accessible to the public. The stated purpose of this law is to assure that Californians can be fully informed about the legislative decisionmaking process of elected and appointed officials. Under the majority opinion, however, a legislative body is entirely free to conduct the public’s business in private session, shielding its decisionmaking process from scrutiny by the press or public, simply by dividing itself into various “standing committees” whose membership does not comprise a quorum of the full legislative body. 2 The majority reaches this result by interpreting the Brown Act to exempt such committees from compliance with any of the Act’s requirements. The majority’s interpretation contorts the statutory language and contravenes the goal of this state’s Open Meeting Law.

I

This case arose out of the June 18, 1991, meeting of the “Operations Committee” of the Board of Directors of the Orange County Employees Retirement System. The Board administers $1.5 billion, consisting of moneys derived from the county’s…

The Ralph M. Brown Act (Stats. 1953, ch. 1588, § 1, p. 3269, codified as Gov. Code, § 54950 et seq. [hereafter the Brown Act or the Act]) 1 provides that all meetings of “the legislative body of a local agency shall be open and public,” except as otherwise provided in the Act. (§ 54953.) At all times relevant to this case the Act contained four separate definitions of “legislative body.” 2 We granted review to determine whether the Operations Committee of the Retirement Board of Orange County Employees Retirement System (hereafter Board) is a “legislative body” within the meaning of the Brown Act and, therefore, subject to the Act’s *824 open meeting requirements. Because the Operations Committee is an advisory committee composed solely of Board members numbering less than a quorum of the Board, we hold that the committee is not a “legislative body” pursuant to the provisions of section 54952.3 and is thereby excluded from the open meeting requirements of the Act.

I. Facts

The Orange County Employees Retirement System is governed by a nine-member Board. Five members of the Board constitute a quorum. The Board is a “local agency” and a “legislative body” under sections…