By contrast in California this is explicitly forbidden under the Brown Act. State and local political officials are not allowed to communicate privately with enough members of a legislative body to form a quorum.
> By contrast in California this is explicitly forbidden under the Brown Act. State and local political officials are not allowed to communicate privately with enough members of a legislative body to form a quorum.
Oh wow! "Serial Meetings" are defined. That's pretty remarkable. Also - it's good to know. Thanks.
Yes, it turns out to be pretty broad. Three members out of a five member city council all liking the same Facebook comment in a public group about an upcoming item on the city council agenda is enough to constitute a Brown Act violation.
Brown Act violations do get exposed every so often and usually result in the action that was being discussed getting reversed.
Its most commonly violated by city council members because city councils are usually small, so it's very easy to violate accidentally. Say you have a five member city council. Council member A emails council member B to get their thoughts on an upcoming item. Then a few days later council member B emails council member C to ask a question about that item. That's a Brown Act violation.
