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Background

The Ventura City Council consists of seven members, one of which is appointed to serve as
mayor. The city announced on social media that the mayor would deliver a “State of the City”
address at an event hosted by the Ventura Chamber of Commerce at a local hotel. The
announcement indicated that the public could purchase tickets to attend the event, but did not
mention any other way for the public to watch the mayor’s address in real time. The
announcement stated that the mayor’s address would be “available later online” and would be
shared with the public at a council meeting approximately a month following the event.
The event took place with less than a quorum of the council attending. The Attorney General
addressed three questions related to this type of scenario.

a. Would the event be considered a meeting under the Brown Act if a majority
of the council members attended?

The Brown Act states generally that every meeting of a legislative body of a local agency shall
be open and public, and the public shall be permitted to attend the meetings. A meeting is
defined as “a congregation of a majority of the members of a legislative body at the same time
and location…to hear, discuss, deliberate, or take action on any item that is within the subject
matter jurisdiction of the legislative body.” The Attorney General found that attendees would be
gathered at the event to listen to the mayor’s speech and would hear and discuss information that
was relevant to the state of the city, which is within the city council’s official duties. Thus, if a
majority of the city council members attended the event, the Attorney General concluded that it
would constitute a meeting under the Brown Act.

b. Would the Brown Act exception for conferences or similar gatherings apply
to this event?

The Brown Act contains an exception to its definition of “meetings” that applies to conferences
or other similar gatherings open to the public that involve discussion of issues of general interest
to the public or to public agencies of the type represented by the legislative body. In analyzing
whether the gathering of the city council would fall within this exception, the Attorney General
looked to common definitions of “conference” to define the term as one that involves multiple
presentations facilitating an exchange of ideas between multiple parties. The Attorney General
distinguished the “State of the City” event as one that involved a single speech by a single
official regarding the conditions of a single city. Since the event was narrowly focused on the
city rather than more broadly faceted, the Attorney General concluded that the event would not
fit into the Brown Act’s exception for conferences.

c. Would the Brown Act’s exception for community meetings apply to this
event?

The Brown Act has another exception that applies to an open and publicized meeting organized
to address a topic of local community concern by a person or organization other than the local
agency. The Attorney General concluded that the “State of the City” event would not have been
sufficiently open to satisfy this exception, because the public would have to purchase tickets to
gain access to the event and there was no other way for the public to watch the mayor’s speech in

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