Conducting agency business in public can be complicated. It requires staff, administrators, and board members to strictly adhere to ever-changing laws, impacting meetings, communications, timelines, and use of technology. As general counsel, Lozano Smith attorneys join alongside publicly elected boards, and routinely advise on the most pressing governance issues, including:

  • Brown Act
  • Public Records Act
  • Political Reform Act
  • California Voting Rights Act
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Gifts and perks
  • Elections
  • Ethics and board service
  • E-Communication and open government
  • Board/Administration: roles & responsibilities
  • Public Safety

Effective Governance Workshop

Recognizing the need for leaders to remain well-informed of critical issues while successfully conducting the public’s business, Lozano Smith created a cutting-edge workshop for board members and City Council members. This workshop walks through practical strategies for effective governance, including:

  • Allowable closed session topics
  • Maintaining confidentiality of closed session discussions
  • Regular and special meetings of the board
  • Board bylaws
  • The Public's Role at Board Meetings
  • Establishing Positive Relationships
  • Regular and Special Meetings of the Board
  • Board Member Conduct and Liability
  • Effective Communication Between Board Members
  • Tips for Effective Communication with the Public

Brown Act

We regularly advise clients on the open meeting requirements of the Ralph M. Brown Act and routinely provide individualized trainings to address specific needs of our clients. We have also successfully defended Brown Act suits at the trial and appellate levels. For example, Duval v. Board of Trustees (2001) 93 Cal.App.4th 902 established the principle that a legislative body may conduct comprehensive personnel evaluations in closed session, including a discussion of evaluation criteria and setting goals for future performance.

The firm also publishes annual handbooks and materials available at no cost for clients to use in understanding and complying with the Brown Act.

Public Records Act

We assist our clients in responding to Public Records Act requests from receipt of an initial demand through completion. Our attorneys and paralegals routinely deal with unique issues such as requests for salary or personnel information, electronic documents, documents related to closed-session meetings or pending litigation. All Lozano Smith attorneys are well versed in the Public Records Act and remain abreast of recent legislation and case law, understanding how each impacts our client’s obligations to maintain and disclose public records.

Conflicts of Interest

We frequently train and advise clients, including the elected board, regarding a wide range of conflicts of interest and ethics issues. Often, we counsel public agencies on: understanding public officials’ obligations to disclose their economic interests; identifying conflicts of interest; abstaining from participating in certain governmental decisions; and properly disclosing potential conflicts at public meetings.

Board Counsel and Support

Lozano Smith attorneys, as general counsel, guide and support public elected boards through creation and implementation of board policies, media relations, communication with the public, election issues, political activity, and conflict of interest issues, including the proper conduct of candidate and ballot measure elections. The firm’s attorneys advise on many election-related topics, including:

  • Timing and conduct of elections, election contests and voter registration issues
  • Trustee elections, including moving to by-trustee area elections
  • Restrictions on use of agency equipment and media for political purposes
  • Political activity on campus by board members, staff, and third parties
  • Guidelines for mass mailings sent at public expense
  • Lobbying and campaign finance regulation

Four New Bills Will Impact Local Agency Meetings under the Brown Act

By:Anne Collins, Rebecca Wilson -

October 2024Number 43Governor Newsom signed four new bills amending the Ralph M. Brown Act (Brown Act), California’s open meeting law. Each of the new bills, which go into effect on January 1, 2025, will impact how local agencies conduct meetings under the Brown Act.Assembly Bill 2715 – Extension of Closed Session to CybersecurityLocal agencies may only conduct “closed session meetings” (private board discussions out of view of the public) for specific purposes express...

Conflicts of Interest Legislation Roundup: Changes to Contribution Threshold and Familial Relationship Rules

By:Nicholas Clair -

October 2024Number 44The Legislature recently passed several bills affecting conflicts of interest under the Political Reform Act of 1974 (“PRA”) and Government Code section 1090 et seq. (“Section 1090”). First, Senate Bill (“SB”) 1243 increases the threshold for contributions to an officer of an agency that would disqualify the officer from participating in decisions for certain proceedings. Second, in enacting SB 1111, the Legislature, for the first time,...

Until We Meet Again: Attorney General Confirms the Brown Act’s Broad Application to Informal Gatherings of Members of a Legislative Body

By:James McCann, Peter Sumulong -

October 2024Number 42In a recent opinion, the California Attorney General found that a gathering of a majority of the members of a city council at a chamber of commerce event constituted a “meeting” of the city council under the Ralph M. Brown Act (“Brown Act”), under the specific facts presented. This opinion provides useful insight for public agencies into how the Brown Act may be applied to similar gatherings involving their own governing body members, which may in ...

AB 764: California Changes the Process for Educational Agencies and Special Districts Undergoing the By-Trustee Area Districting and Redistricting Process

By:Michelle Cannon, Jaspreet Lochab-Dogra -

March 2024Number 14**Updated October 4, 2024**Update: Please be advised that, effective January 1, 2025, AB 453 requires that any public hearings during an educational agency's transition from at-large to by-trustee area elections, or during its establishment of district-based elections —whether pre-map or post-map—that are consolidated with a regular or special meeting, must begin at a fixed time, regardless of the item’s position on the agenda. However, the governing body ...

Four Bills Affecting Student Attendance Requirements

By:Ruth Mendyk, Alyssa Bivins, Ligia Nicolae -

January 2024Number 1In October 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom signed four new bills into law that amend existing sections of the Education Code to extend excused absences related to attending religious retreats (AB 1503) and funeral services of immediate family members (SB 350), extend the time to determine an interdistrict transfer appeal (SB 413), and grant homeless and foster youth priority access to intersession programs (AB 373).Assembly Bill 1503 – Excused Absences for Religious Retr...

A Series of New Laws Revise Surplus Land Act Procedures for Local Agencies

By:Laurie Avedisian-Favini, Jennifer Thompson -

January 2024Number 3In October 2023, Governor Newsom signed a collection of bills making significant changes to the Surplus Land Act.The Surplus Land Act requires local agencies to complete certain procedures before disposing of surplus land, either by sale or lease. These procedures include (among a host of others) taking formal action in a public meeting to declare the land surplus, and providing notice to certain entities prior to the disposal of surplus land. There are several statutory ...

New Legislation Places Limits on Termination of Superintendents Without Cause

By:Wiley Driskill, Rebal Halabi-Boutros -

December 2023Number 44On October 13, 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 494, which limits the circumstances under which a school board can take action to terminate cabinet-level employees. First, SB 494 prohibits the governing board of a school district from taking action to terminate a superintendent or assistant superintendent without cause, at a special or emergency meeting of the board. Second, SB 494 prohibits the governing board from taking action to terminate a superin...