The California Legislature, enacting reforms to its well-known Brown Act, has extended indefinitely a little known allowance for members of legislative bodies to communicate “outside of a meeting with any other person using n internet-based social media platform for specified purposes”. The allowance “shall not be construed as preventing a member of the legislative body from engaging in separate conversations or communications on an internet-based social media platform to answer questions, provide information to the public, or to solicit information from the public regarding a matter that is the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body provided that a majority of the members of the legislative body do not use the internet-based social media platform to discuss among themselves business of a specific nature that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the legislative body.”
Legislative bodies impacted by SB 707 include California counties and cities, and their appointed advisory commissions and boards, and school district governing boards.
My use of this internet-based website (www.heapa.org) to “provide information to the public and solicit information from the public” regarding the issues being discussed by the Sonoma County Behavioral Health Board is now legally allowed by this new California law. I will be posting documents for the public’s review and comment that we are developing to fulfill our responsibilities as defined by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors.
Homeless Emergency Assistance Program Association 