Governor Signs AB 23 Requiring Governing Boards To Disclose Additional Compensation Paid To Board Members For Serial Or Simultaneous Meeting
August 2011
Number 42
Assembly Bill (AB) 23, effective January 1, 2012, requires that each governing board of a local agency, prior to holding serial or simultaneous meetings, have the clerk or a member of the governing board verbally announce the additional compensation that members of that governing board will receive for attending the serial or simultaneous meetings. Examples of serial or simultaneous meetings would be when a city council meets as the city council, and then adjourns and immediately reconvenes as the governing board of the city's redevelopment agency; or when a county board of education adjourns a board meeting and then immediately reconvenes as the county committee on school district organization. In these examples, no additional compensation is paid to the city council members for attending the redevelopment agency meeting, or to the county board members for attending the school district organization committee meeting, or, if the compensation paid for the redevelopment agency or county committee meeting is the same as that allowed by another statute, then no announcement is necessary.
The purpose of this new law is to address and curb practices that were widely reported to have occurred in the City ofBellwhen city council members met simultaneously or serially as several different legislative bodies, (e.g., the redevelopment agency, the housing authority, and the community development committee), and then received significant compensation for the various meetings. The part time councilmembers were able to pay themselves a combined annual salary exceeding $95,000 for meetings of various city boards, commissions and agencies that prosecutors say never happened.
If you have any questions regarding AB 23, or if you do not know if compensation paid to the members of a legislative body is different or more than allowed under state law, please do not hesitate to contact one of our eight offices located statewide or consult our website.
Written by:
David Wolfe
Shareholder
Fresno Office
dwolfe@lozanosmith.com
Judy Bailey
Paralegal
Fresno Office
jbailey@lozanosmith.com
2011 Lozano Smith
Number 42
Assembly Bill (AB) 23, effective January 1, 2012, requires that each governing board of a local agency, prior to holding serial or simultaneous meetings, have the clerk or a member of the governing board verbally announce the additional compensation that members of that governing board will receive for attending the serial or simultaneous meetings. Examples of serial or simultaneous meetings would be when a city council meets as the city council, and then adjourns and immediately reconvenes as the governing board of the city's redevelopment agency; or when a county board of education adjourns a board meeting and then immediately reconvenes as the county committee on school district organization. In these examples, no additional compensation is paid to the city council members for attending the redevelopment agency meeting, or to the county board members for attending the school district organization committee meeting, or, if the compensation paid for the redevelopment agency or county committee meeting is the same as that allowed by another statute, then no announcement is necessary.
The purpose of this new law is to address and curb practices that were widely reported to have occurred in the City ofBellwhen city council members met simultaneously or serially as several different legislative bodies, (e.g., the redevelopment agency, the housing authority, and the community development committee), and then received significant compensation for the various meetings. The part time councilmembers were able to pay themselves a combined annual salary exceeding $95,000 for meetings of various city boards, commissions and agencies that prosecutors say never happened.
If you have any questions regarding AB 23, or if you do not know if compensation paid to the members of a legislative body is different or more than allowed under state law, please do not hesitate to contact one of our eight offices located statewide or consult our website.
Written by:
David Wolfe
Shareholder
Fresno Office
dwolfe@lozanosmith.com
Judy Bailey
Paralegal
Fresno Office
jbailey@lozanosmith.com
2011 Lozano Smith
As the information contained herein is necessarily general, its application to a particular set of facts and circumstances may vary. For this reason, this News Brief does not constitute legal advice. We recommend that you consult with your counsel prior to acting on the information contained herein.
