Poll: How Transparent Is the City Council?

The Brown Act was created in 1953 to create more transparency between the public and local city and county agencies in California. Municipalities were required to post public agendas 72 hours before the meeting and have to report on closed sessions.

But last week, the state suspended this requirement to allow municipalities to save money. The Redwood City city council and , however, said they are and will adhere to the same requirements.

Yet, sometimes the 72-hour rule doesn’t seem enough.

During the at the July 9 city council meeting, some residents stated that posting the agenda on Friday for the Monday meeting in general doesn’t give groups enough time to organize comments.

Therefore, the city councilmembers can—and did—receive residents’ comments up until 5 p.m., just two hours before the city council meeting when they were supposed to make a decision regarding the 9-unit development.

Do you think the city council is transparent enough in all its decisions?

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